the painting. She wears her best clothes and converses with Sargent knowingly. She plays the part of someone who is worthy of being painted by the great one. Had Muriel not gone about it in the manner she did, the painting would never have came to be. It sets up the scene. The scene in which the portrait takes place is important because it sets Muriel’s painting apart from other’s, such as Mrs. Armour’s. The artist made it seem that Muriel was allowing him to paint her rather than the opposite. “May I impose on you”(51). Mrs. Armour paid for her painting with money made by packing meat. Muriel Fraser paid for her painting with an appreciation for art that only her family heritage could have given. “Something there revealed a respect for art so surrendered, so complete, it could not be ordered on demand.”(51)Finally, the portrait itself restores the family’s dignity. The painting is hung above the fireplace in the family’s flat. People come to see it. Muriel is asked to lend the picture to an exhibition in New York. A caption in one of the papers that reproduced the portrait called Muriel “the distinguished local pianist”(53). These are all examples of the dignity that the painting gives to the family. Upon looking at the painting, you see the portrayal of a rightfully proud woman. She is proud of her Scottish heritage and the goal she has accomplished. “The one depicted corner of her mouth shows something gleeful, as if the subject is plotting or, indeed, achieving, at the very moment of depiction, a goal”(53). The way in which Muriel is portrayed restores the families lost dignity.The commercial would go something like this: Round-trip vacation from Chicago to Europe, cost $700. Portrait done by John Singer Sargent cost $200. Restoration of family dignity: priceless. ...
