Object details
Accession number
S.G.Sar.4.1.6
Creators
Full title
Study for Eros and Psyche for the Rotunda of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Creation Date
1916-1921
Provenance
Probably a gift from John Singer Sargent to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1921.
Marks
Signed in pencil (lower left): John S. Sargent
Watermark: L. BERVILLE (FRANCE) / Lalanne
Dimensions
48 x 63 cm (18 7/8 x 24 13/16 in.)
Display Media
Charcoal on paper
Web Commentary
In 1916, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) met Thomas Eugene McKeller (1890–1962), a young, Black elevator attendant, at Boston’s Hotel Vendome. McKeller posed for most of the figures—both male and female—in Sargent’s murals in the Museum of Fine Arts. The painter transformed McKeller into white gods and goddesses, creating soaring allegories of the liberal arts that celebrated the recent expansion of the city’s premier civic museum. Sargent then gave several preparatory drawings of McKeller to Isabella Stewart Gardner, ensuring their preservation in perpetuity.
Thomas McKeller modeled this figure for a rotunda relief, featuring Eros who plunged out of the heavens and into Psyche’s arms, literally falling in love. Sargent focuses here on McKeller’s muscular legs and shapely torso, reserving the poses of his arms and head for other studies.
Permanent Gallery Location
Short Gallery
Bibliography
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). Drawings: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1968), p. 52.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.). Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 223.
Nathaniel Silver et al. Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. Exh. cat (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2020), pp. 188-89, cat. 6. (as Study for Eros and Psyche)
Rights and reproductions
The use of images, text, and all other media found on this website is limited. Please review Rights and Reproductions for details.