Mrs. Thomas Lincoln Manson Jr (Mary Groot) 1890

John Singer Sargent painted Mrs. Thomas Lincoln Manson Jr., or Mary Groot, with oils on canvas, at an unknown date. Mary Groot's dress, jewelry, and relaxed pose all point towards her high social standing in the American northeast. We should note the conventions of portraiture here. Patrons such as Mrs. Manson would have been well aware of how portraiture could emphasize status and social hierarchy. Sargent was known as one of the pre-eminent portraitists of his day, commissioned to paint the elites of the United States and Britain. Sargent's academic training in Paris, and the establishment of museums and art schools in the United States, were all part of a wider movement to standardize taste, with portraiture playing a key role. By looking at how the institutions of art making and patronage converged in the late 19th century, and by researching figures such as Sargent and Manson, we can better understand the social function of art.