Edward Robinson

John Singer Sargent

1903 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Edward Robinson (1858–1931) probably met Sargent in the early 1890s, when he was the curator of classical antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the artist was working on murals for the Boston Public Library. Robinson was appointed director of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1902, the year before Sargent painted him. He would come to the Metropolitan Museum as assistant director in 1905 and serve as director from 1910 until 1931. In Sargent’s portrait, the library interior and the ancient bronze mirror on the desk (which Robinson presented to the Metropolitan in 1929 (29.141a–c) refer to Robinson’s career as an archaeologist and a scholar.

Artist

John Singer Sargent

Date

1903

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Edward Robinson, 1931