The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant

The three daughters of the Honorable Percy Wyndham, a wealthy Londoner, appear in this monumental canvas. From the left, they are Madeline Adeane (1869–1941), Pamela Tennant (1871–1928), and Mary Constance, Lady Elcho (1862–1937). Sargent painted them in the drawing room of their family’s residence on Belgrave Square. Seen on the wall above them is George Frederic Watts’s portrait of their mother (private collection), which establishes their genealogy and reminds viewers of Sargent’s ties to older artists. Displayed in 1900 at the Royal Academy, The Wyndham Sisters was hailed by the critics and dubbed “The Three Graces” by the Prince of Wales. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Notes from the contributor:
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1927