On the centenary of John Singer Sargent’s death, we are gathering together, for the first time, 18 of his magnificent portraits at Kenwood. Several of these portraits have never before been on public display and all depict women who were part of the transatlantic marriage phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when American heiresses married into the British aristocracy. Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits features some of Sargent’s finest works and reveals the important contributions these women made to politics, the arts and society. With loans coming from institutions in Washington, Boston and Houston as well as private collections on both sides of the Atlantic, the exhibition will offer visitors the rare opportunity to enjoy Sargent’s brilliant works in the splendour of Kenwood. 

Among the most striking of Sargent’s portraits on display is that of Jessie Wilton Phipps. Painted wearing pearls, diamonds, gold and a fashionable striped corset, Jessie would go on to be a tireless public servant, a member of London County Council, a campaigner for the blind and earn a damehood.   It is stories like these of the women who have long languished behind the title ‘dollar princesses’ that will be illuminated in the new exhibition.

Sargent was the most admired and sought-after portraitist of the Gilded Age on both sides of the Atlantic, an expatriate American who had lived throughout Europe. Commissioning him manifested what these Anglo-American marriages were about – status, power, money and international connections. In these portraits Sargent depicted wealth and luxury, evoking works by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Romney to portray his subjects as modern aristocrats, while still conveying their character and personality through his signature mastery of light and texture.

Sargent's charcoal portraits act as a counterpoint to the paintings. Mostly commissioned post-1907, when he moved away from the lengthy process of painting in oils, they constitute another gallery of the great and the good, revealing the artist's ability to capture the lives and characters of his sitters. Together, these paintings and drawings capture the immense social change of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as experienced by Sargent and the women depicted.  

Through such masterpieces, the exhibition reveals a fuller picture of the women caught up in the ‘cash for coronets’ marriage cliché.  At the turn of the 20^th century a symbiotic relationship began to emerge between the British upper classes and America’s ‘new money’ magnates. More than 400 wealthy American women married into the British aristocracy, not always against their will. The women were dubbed ‘dollar princesses,’ reduced to commodities in an illustrious marriage mart. Heiress breaks down this stereotype: many of these women married for love, some were no wealthier than their husbands, and the exhibition recognizes them for their achievements and individual experiences. The exhibition will tell their stories through Sargent’s brilliant portraits. Highlights include –

• Nancy Astor 1908 (Cliveden National Trust) & 1923 (National Portrait Gallery) caught in motion and turning to the viewer, a young Nancy Astor is depicted as a Bacchante. Fifteen years later in charcoal and now the first sitting female MP in Parliament she looks at the viewer with a politician’s confidence. From 1919 she was the Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton, a seat she held for a remarkable 25 years.
• Dame Jessie Wilton Phipps (Private Collection) 1884 last on public display in this country in 1964, the oil portrait of Mrs Phipps is one of the highlights of the exhibition. She was elected to the London County Council in 1907 and in 1913 became an alderman. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1926 and went on to chair the Central Council for the London Blind.
• Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough (Private Collection) This charcoal has never before been on public display and shows one of the most famous of the American heiresses, known for her loveless marriage to the 9^th Duke of Marlborough of Blenheim Palace. She reportedly wept behind her veil on her wedding day.

Other masterpieces in the exhibition include major international loans of Edith, Lady Playfair from the Museum of Fine Art, Boston and Mrs Joseph Chamberlain from the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, as well as private loans of Pauline Astor and Cora, Countess of Strafford.

Wendy Monkhouse, English Heritage’s Curator of the exhibition, said: “Heiress will explore a side to Sargent’s portraits not often considered: the real lives of the women behind the works. Dismissed historically as the ‘Dollar Princesses’, their stories were far more complex than this throwaway label. Visitors will also be able to enjoy Sargent’s mastery of portraiture in the context of Anglo-American politics and social change, while getting to know the women who braved marrying into the Old World.

Dame Jenny Abramsky GBE, Chair of the Friends of Kenwood, said: “We are delighted to have played a pivotal role in ‘Heiress’ collaborating with English Heritage in an innovative way to ensure the success of this exhibition. Early ticket sales demonstrate the pull of this world-class show for visitors from far and wide.

Art is at the heart of what we do, and being able to bring such outstanding art to Kenwood in Sargent’s centenary year reinforces our confidence in the future of Kenwood as a uniquely valuable asset for English Heritage and the wider community. At a time when the culture sector is in critical need of support, the Friends of Kenwood are proud to be able to demonstrate our belief in the value of art.  Heiress presents Sargent’s subjects as individuals with their own unique history, just as Kenwood’s famous house and permanent art collection are intrinsically bound into the history of this country. Sargent’s tremendous skill as an artist allows him to sit comfortably on a par with some of the world’s greatest artists who feature in the Kenwood collections.

We are particularly pleased that we have been able to use the American Friends of English Heritage to support Heiress and look forward to working further with our American friends in the future.”

Loans in the exhibition are supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund and the London Historic Houses Museum Trust. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the Weston Loan Programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable regional museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections.

Sophia Weston, Deputy Chair of the Garfield Weston Foundation, said: “Our programme exists to help smaller museums tell new stories and bring world-class art to their audiences, so we are hugely pleased to support this ambitious exhibition at Kenwood House, which will explore the lives of the women behind some of John Singer Sargent’s most celebrated portraits.”

Curatorial Adviser to the exhibition is Richard Ormond CBE, renowned Sargent scholar, author of the 9-volume catalogue raisonnée and great-nephew of the artist.

Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits is supported by The Friends of the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, the American Friends of English Heritage, the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund and the London Historic Houses Museum Trust, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Rockefeller Capital Management, Gregory and Melissa Fleming, L.K. Barnes, Mark King, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Sargent Circle and other generous supporters.   

Coming next at Kenwood: Double Vision: Vermeer at Kenwood, 1 September 2025 – 10 January 2026. Bringing together Kenwood’s The Guitar Player and Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Lady with the Guitar, this display will explore the work of Johannes Vermeer through two closely related paintings.

To accommodate Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits a selection of paintings from Kenwood will be on display at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury, Suffolk for Masterpieces from Kenwood: the Splendour of British & French Painting, 3 May – 19 October. 

For more information, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/kenwood