In volume two of Richard Ormond's excellent survey of Sargent's work there is an interesting note about his pricing. Here is a quote from a letter written by Sargent in 1896 to a representative of the Harvard Club of New York City, regarding the proposed commissioning of a portrait of their retired president, Joseph Hodges Choate:
Quote:
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My prices are $2,000, $3,000 and $4,000 for head and shoulders, three-quarter length and full-length respectively. If, as you intimate, the Harvard Club has difficulty making those figures, I would make a reduction of five hundred dollars on each of them.
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This is when Sargent is at the height of his popularity as a portraitist, and he is also quite busy with his work on the Boston Library and states in the letter that he would be unable to begin work on the commission for two or three years.
Evidently the pricing and schedule were worked out as Sargent completed a three-quarter length portrait of Choate in 1899.
Anyone know the rate of inflation for the past hundred or so years? I'd be interested to know what that translates to in today's dollars. I was also interested to note that Sargent was williing to negotiate on price, especially since he was so much in demand at the time.
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