What do you think?
Rate this book
John Singer Sargent
The remarkable portraits for which John Singer Sargent is most famous are only one aspect of a career that included landscapes, watercolors, figure subjects, and murals. Even within portraiture, his style ranged from bold experiments to studied formality. And the subjects of his paintings were as varied as his styles, including the leaders of fashionable society, rural laborers, city streets, remote mountains, and the front lines of World War I. This beautiful book surveys and evaluates the extraordinary range of Sargent's work, and reproduces 150 of his paintings in color. It accompanies a spectacular international exhibition--the first major retrospective of the artist's career since the memorial exhibitions that followed his death.
Sargent (1856-1925) was a genuinely international figure. Born of American parents, he grew up in Europe and forged his early reputation in Paris. Later, he established himself in England and the United States as the leading portraitist of the day, and traveled widely in North Africa and the Middle East. Contributors to this book assess Sargent's career in three essays. Richard Ormond presents a biographical sketch and, in a second essay, reviews Sargent's development as an artist. Mary Crawford Volk explores his thirty-year involvement with painting murals--in particular the works at the Boston Public Library and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that Sargent regarded as his greatest achievement.
The book arranges Sargent's paintings into sections that reflect every phase and aspect of his career. We encounter, for example, such famous early works as Oyster Gatherers of Cancale, Sargent's robust and brilliantly lit scene of fishing life in Brittany. We see many of his greatest American and English portraits, including his daringly posed portrait of Bostonian Isabella Stewart Gardner and his audacious painting of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, which caused a sensation in London in 1893. The book also includes important late works such as Gassed, his monumental painting of soldiers blinded by mustard gas on the western front, and many of his ambitious murals in Boston.
Sargent is a visually stunning, beautifully written, and perceptive work on one of the most important and admired artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Sargent (1856-1925) was a genuinely international figure. Born of American parents, he grew up in Europe and forged his early reputation in Paris. Later, he established himself in England and the United States as the leading portraitist of the day, and traveled widely in North Africa and the Middle East. Contributors to this book assess Sargent's career in three essays. Richard Ormond presents a biographical sketch and, in a second essay, reviews Sargent's development as an artist. Mary Crawford Volk explores his thirty-year involvement with painting murals--in particular the works at the Boston Public Library and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that Sargent regarded as his greatest achievement.
The book arranges Sargent's paintings into sections that reflect every phase and aspect of his career. We encounter, for example, such famous early works as Oyster Gatherers of Cancale, Sargent's robust and brilliantly lit scene of fishing life in Brittany. We see many of his greatest American and English portraits, including his daringly posed portrait of Bostonian Isabella Stewart Gardner and his audacious painting of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, which caused a sensation in London in 1893. The book also includes important late works such as Gassed, his monumental painting of soldiers blinded by mustard gas on the western front, and many of his ambitious murals in Boston.
Sargent is a visually stunning, beautifully written, and perceptive work on one of the most important and admired artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 1998
11 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 24, 2023
Nice collection of his art, with detailed discussion on each of the paintings. The book starts with a bio. Then an essay on his art and its influences. Then a section on the Boston Murals (I've seen these at the MFA - Museum of Fine Arts). https://www.mfa.org/
Then a large catalogue of painting:
1. Early Landscapes and Subject Pictures
2. Paris and the Salon
3. Impressionism
4. Portraiture in England and America
5. The Murals
6. Sargent the Watercolorist (I was not aware of his great watercolors)
7. Late Landscapes, Figure Studies and the War
My favorite surprised me: "Gassed". Painted in the winter of 1918-19. The composition is dominated by a line of nine victims of the gas attack, and assisted by two orderlies. They have bandages over their eyes per the effects of the mustard gas. It measures 9+ feet tall by over 21 feet long!
Then a large catalogue of painting:
1. Early Landscapes and Subject Pictures
2. Paris and the Salon
3. Impressionism
4. Portraiture in England and America
5. The Murals
6. Sargent the Watercolorist (I was not aware of his great watercolors)
7. Late Landscapes, Figure Studies and the War
My favorite surprised me: "Gassed". Painted in the winter of 1918-19. The composition is dominated by a line of nine victims of the gas attack, and assisted by two orderlies. They have bandages over their eyes per the effects of the mustard gas. It measures 9+ feet tall by over 21 feet long!
September 2, 2017
Thorough investigation of the art-work of John Singer Sargent ... includes information concerning Sargent's murals for the Boston Public Library, which are rarely dealt with in the extant literature ... sumptuously illustrated with multitudes of full-page, color plates ... a visual delight ...
December 17, 2022
Elegant, essential, concise but thorough catalogue of Sargent’s best works. Sumptuously reproduced images that will further your fascination with a fascinating man.
Read
September 16, 2013Excellent art book. Beautiful art of course with many pictures with lengthy and interesting commentary on each piece. Get to know John Singer Sargent and forget about the Madam X painting , or get to know it better. Who knew Sargent used artificial flowers or bought 1/2 an acre of roses in full bloom for his paintings? Beautiful portraits landscapes, color, light and composition are all discussed. Decide for yourself if you like his mural work. Get to know the process of creating art at his level and the commentary of the time while he did it –Raina
July 24, 2008
An excellent resource.
February 28, 2015
A book I never tire of. I re-read this several times a year. The writing is fantastic and the reproductions are some of the best I've seen.
April 4, 2016
A comprehensive review of his work and his life
March 10, 2016
An excellent overview of Sargent's work.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews