In 1883 John Singer Sargent rented a studio owned by Paul Poirson. According to family history this portrait of Poirson's wife was done in lieu of a rent payment. Sargent's friendly relationship with the Poirsons made this work more personal than the business transaction might suggest.
(dia.org7-1-2001)
Ormond, Richard and Elaine Kilmurray, "John Singer Sargent: complete paintings; volume 1, The early portraits," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998, no. 128.
Detroit Institute of Arts, 1977.
McKibbin, David, "Sargent's Boston," Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1956.
Ormond, Richard and Elaine Kilmurray, "John Singer Sargent: complete paintings; volume 1, The early portraits," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998, pg. 127.
Antiques (Dec. 1975), p. 1108.