DALLAS—A Texas museum has acquired a full-length painting by John Singer Sargent of Edwin Booth, the renowned 19th-century actor and brother of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth announced the acquisition Friday. The portrait from 1890 was commissioned by members of The Players — a private club for actors founded by Booth and his friends. It remained there until 2002, when it was sold to a private collector. The painting will now go on view Friday in the Amon Carter’s main gallery, the first time it will be on extended public display.
In the portrait, which museum officials said was purchased for about $5 million, Booth is seen in the portrait posing in a dark, three-piece suit.