In this work, as in many of Sargent's portraits, the artist builds upon European masters such as Titian, Velázquez, and Gainsborough in his brilliant reinterpretation of grand manner portraiture.
In addition to Sargent’s Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children (1896), exhibition highlights include photo albums of the Meyer family from 1902 to 1909; the guest register for the family's country seat, Shortgrove, Essex, from 1902 to 1930 which included composer Reynaldo Hahn and actress Sarah Bernhardt, among others; caricatures by Max Beerbohm; several of Carl Meyer's seals; charcoal drawings by John Singer Sargent: Adele's sister in 1909, and daughter, Elsie, in 1908, and more.
The curatorial team has created a virtual album, which will be viewable in the galleries on an iPad, of selected photographs from the Meyer family albums and collections. These capture details of life at their country home, Shortgrove, as well as their travels and theatrical pursuits. The lifestyle shown through these photographs documents a period of upper class family life in a world that was rapidly coming to an end.
Mrs. Carl Meyer (the former Adèle Levis, c. 1861-1930) was the daughter of Julius Levis, a wealthy European rubber manufacturer, and his wife, Emily Levis (nèe Hecht). Adèle Levis married the banker Carl Ferdinand Meyer in 1883. He was born in Hamburg and became a naturalized British subject in 1877. He was a foreign emissary for the London branch of the Rothschild bank, representing their interests in some of the major financial negotiations of the time, and later became London chairman of the De Beers Company as well as director of the National Bank of Egypt. Carl Meyer was created Baronet of Shortgrove in 1910. A vivacious hostess and leader of the artistic society of the day, Lady Meyer was passionate about music and the performing arts. Her philanthropy was split between high culture and social causes including women’s suffrage, conditions for female factory workers, and support for underprivileged families.
John Singer Sargent's Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children is organized by Norman L. Kleeblatt, Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator, with Lucy H. Partman, Curatorial Assistant.
About the Jewish Museum
Located on Museum Mile at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, the Jewish Museum is one of the world's preeminent institutions devoted to exploring art and Jewish culture from ancient to contemporary, offering intellectually engaging, educational, and provocative exhibitions and programs for people of all ages and backgrounds. The Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains a collection of over 30,000 works of art, artifacts, and broadcast media reflecting global Jewish identity, and presents a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed temporary exhibitions. Visitors can now also enjoy Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum, a kosher sit-down restaurant and take-out appetizing counter on the Museum’s lower level. 
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Editor's Note: We were amused by some items in the shop, including a bagel yo-yo, a Sigmund Freud Fruit and Nut Bar, a Mazel Tov server as well as Jewish Mother Gum decorated by the marvelous Maira Kalman and contains the admonishment: "The gum includes '8 pieces, no less' in flavor 'fruit-shmoot.' You can't get this gum anywhere else — it's sold exclusively in the Jewish Museum Shops. There are also wedding accessories such as a smash glass and Lego Cake Topper and a Hebrew Alphabet Melamine Plate.
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