This large painting greets viewers as they enter the second floor of the American wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. It is an important work by a major American artist, who is well represented at this museum. Before I saw it, I heard it described by a guide as a must see and one their personal favorites.

The Boit family were friends of Sargent and in later years the daughters donate this work to the Boston art museum. They also gave the two vases that can be seen flanking the painting and within it. The painting’s unusual arrangement of the girls has led wags to claim that the painting offers a portrait of vases and a still life of the girls. Over time though analysis has transitioned from dismissal of the portrait as portraying nothing more than happy playtime to deeper themes.

One critic supposed that instead of four girls, Sargent portrayed one girl at four different ages. The four daughters were Florence (14 years old), Jane (12), Mary Louisa (8) and Julia (4). Art historians have interpreted the painting as revealing Sargent’s psychosexual thoughts. In the succeeding years, none of the girls would marry, and the two oldest suffered emotional disturbances in maturity. Was it Sargent or someone closer to home, after Epstein don’t we all have to deal with these kinds of fears now?

I like to try to imagine the painting process. Because of the painting’s large size, I imagine that it was created insitu. Moving it would have been difficult. Sargent would come every day and the girls would pose. The perfect combination of tedium and excitement. After each session the four girls would race to see how they looked. I wonder as their appearances developed on canvas how that affected their perception of themselves in real life.