Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 1, “Who Is in Charge Here?”
The Gilded Agehas featured some real-life people throughout its first two seasons, and season 3 has just added another real historical figure thanks to Gladys Russell’s new portrait. Following theending ofThe Gilded Ageseason 2, season 3 was already set up to be the biggest yet for the youngest Russell family member. Bertha Russell seemingly promised her daughter to Hector, Duke of Buckingham, to give Gladys a life even greater than New York high society can offer.
The Gilded Ageseason 3 has already achieved high ratingsthanks to the new season immediately opening with some important dramatic moments and themes. Gladys' potential arranged marriage and her desire to fight for her own choice already give the character a better role than in past seasons. While her romantic trials will be the biggest part of Gladys' story this season, her new portrait that Bertha has commissioned will likely add extra detail to Gladys' journey into adulthood, and it was evenpainted by a real-life artist.
John Singer Sargent’s Real Life History Explained
Sargent Stirred Controversy In His Time
The real-life artist, John Singer Sargent (played by Bobby Steggert), marksThe Gilded Age’s most recent real-life addition. Sargent was an American artist who was born in Florence and lived abroad for the majority of his life. John Singer Sargent trained in Europe and painted in various styles, including portraiture (as is seen inThe Gilded Age) and watercolors. Sargent’s work illustrates a high level of talent, butduring his lifetime, his work was sometimes seen as controversial.
One painting in particular,Portrait of Madame X, was very contentious when he painted it in 1884. The portrait depicts a woman in a long satin black with thin, jeweled straps, resting her hand on a table as she looks off casually in the other direction.The painting highlights the figure of the woman, Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau, by utilizing a very plain background. While this may not sound so scandalous to a modern viewer, at the time, the revealing nature of the dress greatly upset the Paris Salon crowd.
The response toMadame Xled Sargent to move to the United Kingdom, where he continued painting both portraits and landscape paintings. His work was not always well-received by critics, as was noted by Bertha Russell inThe Gilded Ageseason 3’s premiere, but it certainly did gain him attention. In more recent years, his work has had some reevaluation, which reflects his technical mastery and a more complex emotional understanding of the work.The Gilded Agechoosing to highlight his work is very fitting, and reflects Bertha’s ambitions and values well.
Why Gladys’ Portrait By John Singer Sargent Is Important In The Gilded Age Season 3
Gladys Is An Adult Now, And Bertha Wants New York To Know
Having one’s portrait painted does seem like a fairly sumptuous thing to do and is intended to make a statement. That is exactly what Bertha Russell has in mind for her daughter, though. While Gladys is more interested in forging her own path inThe Gilded Ageseason 3, her portrait perfectly represents Bertha’s life-changing plans for her only daughter.The painting itself shows that Gladys is becoming a woman, and more than that, an elegant woman with a bright future.
John Singer Sargent’s painting of Gladys Russell is a physical representation of what Bertha wants Gladys' future to look like.
John Singer Sargent’s painting of Gladys Russell is a physical representation of what Bertha wants Gladys' future to look like. While audiences have only seen the beginning of the painting so far, it will likely be very regal and adult-looking, elevating Gladys to a heightened status. Beyond what the painting itself looks like,Bertha’s decision to hire Sargent to do the painting is also very significant, and understanding his background is key to that.
Knowing that John Singer Sargent’s work was somewhat controversial in his own time means that he fits perfectly with Bertha Russell’s view of her place and her daughter’s place in the world. She sees herself as a trend-setter, understanding that even if people may not understandMadame Xnow, they will eventually. In a sense, then, Gladys’s painting represents modernity and the future, and Bertha’s expectations that Gladys will take her place in that future inThe Gilded Ageseason 3.
