Marking the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death, a major new John Singer Sargent exhibition Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits will open at Kenwood in Hampstead, London, in May.

Margaret Hyde, 19th Countess of Suffolk, 1898 by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Credit: Historic England.

The exhibition will present the women who married into British and European aristocracy and the artist who painted them. It will gather together, for the first time, eighteen magnificent portraits of women once dismissively known as the ‘Dollar Princesses’.

A war-time nurse, a helicopter pilot and the first sitting female MP among them, the exhibition will reveal the often-overshadowed lives of these fascinating American women who crossed the Atlantic to marry British aristocrats in an exchange of money for titles.

On the centenary of his death, the exhibition will be a salute to John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), the most admired and sought-after portraitist of the Gilded Age on both sides of the Atlantic. These portraits represent some of his most glamorous and powerful works. In addition to full-length oil paintings, masterful charcoal portraits will also feature, depicting their subjects in a candid and perceptive light.

Kenwood © English Heritage

Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits, which runs from 16 May to 5 October 2025, is curated by English Heritage, with the charity drawing upon the expertise of Richard Ormond CBE, renowned Sargent scholar and the artist’s great-nephew who is exhibition consultant.

English Heritage is a charity that cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, and from Roman forts to a Cold War bunker.

A prolific painter and draughtsman, Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was the leading portraitist of his generation, celebrated for evoking the luxury and elegance of his age. Born in Florence to expatriate American parents, Sargent spent his childhood travelling across Europe and received his first formal arts education in Rome and Florence. Famed for his dazzling technical virtuosity and skilful mastery of light and texture, Sargent painted prominent figures from both the American and European elite, including socialites, aristocrats, and politicians.

Mary Crowninshield Endicott Chamberlain (Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain), 1902 by John Singer Sargent. Credit: Gift of the Sitter, Mary Endicott Chamberlain Carnegie.

Wendy Monkhouse, English Heritage’s Curator of the exhibition, said: “Heiress will explore a side to Sargent’s portraits not often considered: the women behind the works. Dismissed historically as the ‘Dollar Princesses’, their stories were far more complex, and their reach stretched beyond the boundaries of their marriages. Exploring the reality behind the label, visitors will also witness Sargent’s mastery of portraiture at a time when the seeds of the Special Relationship between England and America were sown.”

Among the treasures included in the exhibition will be Kenwood’s own magnificent portrait of Daisy Leiter, a Chicago heiress who married the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, as well as private loans and major international loans of Edith, Lady Playfair from the Museum of Fine Art, Boston and Mrs Joseph Chamberlain (pictured above) from the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

The music room, Kenwood © English Heritage

Janet Redler, Managing Director of Janet Redler Travel, said: “100 years after Sargent’s death, this major exhibition of works by one of Britain’s finest portrait painters is sure to be one of London’s hottest tickets in 2025. Taking place at one of the capital’s finest stately homes, it will shed new light on the American women who crossed the Atlantic to join the aristocracy.”

Kenwood, on the edge of Hampstead Heath, in north London, is one of the capital’s hidden gems. The permanent collection at Kenwood, its breathtaking interiors and stunning world-class art, including Rembrandt’s ‘Self-Portrait with Two Circles’, are free to visit all year round. 

 Kenwood © English Heritage

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.

If you or your group would like to enjoy a visit to Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits on a tailor-made trip to London this year, please do contact our friendly team today.

Kenwood is one of dozens of stately homes in England which often appear in movies or on TV: find out more.