Feb 17 2025 63 mins 59
Edith Minturn was a Gilded Age society beauty. Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes was a New York architect passionate about preserving the city's past.
When John Singer Sargent accepted the commission to paint their portrait as a wedding present, he perhaps didn't realize how difficult it would prove to be. Capturing Edith Minturn Stokes' strong personality as one of the era's "new woman" resulted in a portrait that in some ways was as scandalous as his famous "Madame X".
Author and Historian Jean Zimmerman joins The Gilded Gentleman to reveal the real story behind this famous portrait, along with just who Newton Phelps Stokes and Edith Minturn really were. The third part of this story is of course Sargent himself who broke new ground and broke a few conventions in portraying "Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes" as they really were.
This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon
Get your tickets for the Bowery Boys Gilded Age Weekend, featuring Carl Raymond, the Gilded Gentleman -- May 29-June 1
