The paintings below are both by renowned American portrait-painter John Singer Sargent. Both paintings – one featuring Sarah Lawrence Brooks and the other featuring her daughter, Eleanor Brooks – were created in the Brooks Estate in 1890.
The Sarah Lawrence Brooks painting now a part of the permanent collection at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. It was donated in 2002, presumably by the descendants of the Brooks Family.
Until recently, we were unaware of the location of the Eleanor Brooks painting until a profile of Barbra Streisand appeared in the New York Times in 2016. Low and behold, right over Ms. Streisand’s left shoulder, is the painting of Eleanor Brooks! We surmise that the descendants of the Brooks Family sold the painting.
We are still trying to find out more about the Eleanor Brooks painting and would love to see the painting featured at the Brooks Estate in a future event! If you have a connection to Ms. Streisand or her agent and can connect us, please email us at inquiries@brooksestate.org.
