Fashioning Manhood: John Singer Sargent and the Construction of Masculinity at the Turn of the Century

This dissertation examines a range of masculinities John Singer Sargent represented throughout his career. I consider Sargent's depictions of the dandy, the veteran, the neurasthenic and the soldier. Each was a type of manhood that was actuated in response to the social changes of the time. This study illustrates not only Sargent's awareness of different strategies for dealing with conflicts affecting masculinity, but also the artist's own complexity as a gendered being.