John Singer Sargent and Henry James both spent formative years in Paris, then settled in London where they were neighbors and good friends. One working in paint, the other in prose, they vividly captured an era of dramatic social change, with the old aristocracy in steep decline as fresh energies and new wealth emerged. Join Sargent biographer Jean Strouse and journalist Madeleine Schwartz for a conversation on how being American shaped Sargent’s and James’ work, and how our current Gilded Age compares with the last one.

About the speakers:

Jean Strouse is the author of Morgan, American Financier and Alice James, A Biography, which won the Bancroft Prize in American History. Her essays and reviews have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and elsewhere. She has been a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation and served as Director of the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at The New York Public Library from 2003 to 2017. Her new book, Family Romance, John Singer Sargent and the Wertheimers, was published in 2024.

Madeleine Schwartz is editor in chief of The Dial, the award-winning magazine of international writing. She lives in Paris, where she writes about the rise of the far right, urban politics and art fraud. Her work appears in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, where she previously worked as an editor. She teaches journalism at Sciences Po.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (the speakers will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.