Thomas Brackett Reed

Object Details

In 1891, Thomas B. Reed’s supporters raised funds to commission John Singer Sargent— the most prominent American portraitist of the period— to immortalize the Speaker. Sargent struggled with the portrait, saying that Reed’s “expression does not correspond with his spirit,” and that his outward appearance was “impassive with an inward-turned eye.” The resulting work is dark and moody, in the artist’s signature painterly style. Reed, who was known for his wit, said of his portrait, “[W]hen those pictures . . . are dug from the ruins of the Capitol 2000 years hence . . . they will pass by the portraits [of other Speakers] . . . but when they come to Sargent’s work and see the features of your humble servant . . . [they will] say ‘here is quite a fellow.’”