Miss Violet Sargent, John Singer Sargent, 1882

Violet Sargent Ormond (February 9, 1870 - March 26, 1955) was the subject of a number of paintings by her brother John Singer Sargent. Raised in Florence by her expatriate American parents, her image was rendered by her brother numerous times from early childhood on.

Violet’s life was marked by a unique set of circumstances: she studied at Florence's Accademia di Belle Arti, embarked on an ill-fated voyage to New York with her brother John against their mother's wishes due to Violet being attached to the homosexual Britisher Francis Ormond. Yet rather than succumbing or rejecting societal norms and stigma towards homosexuality, Violet chose acceptance—she married him anyway and raised six children together in England despite criticism from family members, including their sister Emily, who wrote Vernon Lee  concerning her 'ally perspective' “She says she has long since accepted the fact that he is abnormal, & she thinks he has too, now. The pity is that he has it in his power to cloud so many lives!”

High five, Violet.