John Singer Sargent
Chelsea, West London, England, n.d.
John Singer Sargent Declines Another Dinner Invitation
ALS

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). An autograph letter signed, "John S. Sargent," 1p, on bifold stationery embossed with his London address, 4.5" x 7", Chelsea, no date, but datelined "Thursday." Inner pages and verso blank. Isolated pencil inscriptions from a former collector. Expected transmittal folds and light creases. Faint ink smudging. Foxing and scattered staining with adhesive residue at verso. In very good condition.

From his home on Tite Street in West London, Sargent writes a brief letter declining a dinner invitation.

In full:

"Dear Mr. Fitzgerald

I regret so much being engaged on Monday and unable to accept your very kind invitation to dinner.

With kind regards
Yours sincerely
John S. Sargent."

John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate painter widely regarded as the foremost portrait artist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Florence, Italy, to American parents, he received his artistic training in Paris before establishing a successful career in London. Sargent was fluent in four languages: English, French, German, and Italian. In 1886, he moved into James McNeil Whistler's old atelier on Tite Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of London just steps away from the Thames River. In 1901, he purchased the property next door to his home in Tite Street, to create a larger studio. Sargent routinely declined social invitations, notoriously sending letters of refusal to eager hosts. In fact, a substantial portion of his voluminous correspondence consists of refusals to dinner-party invitations.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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4.5" x 7"