Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, a reproduction by Thomas Baker

"All London is at his feet," said one writer of John Sargent when this painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy of Art in London in 1893. Considered the masterpiece of Sargent's mature style, this portrait displays the slashing brushstrokes and brilliant pallet that has led many art historians to call Sargent the best portrait painter who ever lived. The subject, Gertrude ("Gerty") Vernon, who had married Lord Agnew of Lochnaw, was convalescing from the flu when Sargent painted her in his London studio, which may account for her appearance of slight lassitude. Sargent' achieved his spectacular effects with the simplest of painting equipment. "His brushes and paints are of the most ordinary kind," wrote one contemporary admirer (in fact, he would allow artists who borrowed his studio to use his brushes as well, something few professional painters are willing to do). At times Sargent used rags and even his fingers to push the paint around on the canvas until he was satisfied with the effect.