William James

William James was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and studied under Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He first came to Dublin to study with Abbott Thayer. He and his brother Alexander were selected from among the students at the Museum School to work as copyists for Thayer. In 1920, James's brother bought a house and settled there with his family. William made frequent visits and, later in life, married one of George De Forest Brush's daughters. The subject of this portrait, Sara Sherman Wiborg Murphy, is shown wearing an elaborate Spanish costume. She was a prominent figure in early 20th-century social circles, immortalized with her husband Gerald as the two fictional protagonists in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender is the Night (1934). While living in France, the couple belonged to an intellectual circle that included Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, and Femand Leger. This portrait was probably painted prior to their departure to Europe inspring 1921.