Snobbery and Sex Appeal: The Remarkable Lives of Sargent’s ‘Dollar Princesses’

Now, on the centenary of Sargent’s death, a fascinating subsection of his work is going on display at Kenwood House in London. Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits is the first exhibition to focus on his paintings and sketches of the wealthy young American women who crossed the Atlantic to marry into the British and European aristocracy, bearing dowries big enough to rescue crumbling ancestral homes and elevating their own family status in the process. 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, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Rockefeller Capital Management, Gregory and Melissa Fleming, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and other generous supporters.