The classic monograph on a much-loved artist — reissued in a spectacular oversize format

In the early work of John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), Henry James saw “the slightly ‘uncanny’ spectacle of a talent which on the threshold of its career has nothing more to learn.” Sargent’s talent, nay, genius was indeed uncanny, sustained with equal intensity through his famed society portraits, like the scandalous Madame X; his full-size showpieces, like The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit; his thousands of watercolors executed en plein air from Venice to Corfu to Maine to Montana; and his ambitious mural decorations for the public monuments of Boston.

In Carter Ratcliff, Sargent has found a biographer and critic of fitting style and subtlety. Ratcliff expertly evokes the expatriate American milieu into which the artist was born, and offers penetrating insights into every phase of his career and every aspect of his work. Now, for the first time, this landmark monograph is offered in a special oversize format, with all of its 310 illustrations reproduced in full color, many at full-page size. It also includes a new preface by the author and an updated bibliography.

About the Author:

Carter Ratcliff is a poet, art critic, and contributing editor of Art in America. His books on art include The Fate of a Gesture: Jackson Pollock and Postwar American Art; Out of the Box: The Reinvention of Art; and monographs on Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, Gilbert & George, and others. He has also published numerous volumes of poetry and a novel, Tequila Mockingbird.

The Italian born, American painter of the late nineteenth century, John Singer Sargent was a celebrated portraitist of the wealthy and their privileged world. Renowned for his exquisite naturalism, some of his best work also shows flirtations with Impressionism, particularly in his evocations of childhood, and the light falling on the gorgeous gowns of his female sitters. This beautiful new book also offers a wide range of his most delightful landscapes, travel scenes and watercolours.

"Au XIXe siècle, l’aquarelle n’était pas considérée comme un art à part entière, mais plutôt comme la technique préférée des amateurs, en particulier des dames de la bonne société, ou, pour les artistes de profession, comme des ébauches préparatrices en vue de tableaux achevés dans leur atelier. Il y avait des exceptions tout à fait notoires, en particulier au sein de l’école des aquarellistes anglais, dont J.M. W. Turner était l’un des plus éminents représentants. Mais, à la fin du siècle, Sargent devint l’un des premiers peintres dont les aquarelles furent appréciées pour leurs valeurs intrinsèques. À partir de 1910, il commença à les exposer, dans des expositions spécialisées d’abord, à Londres, à la Royal Watercolour Society entre autres, puis aux États-Unis.

(…) Homer, seul aquarelliste pouvant rivaliser avec Sargent, était très prisé pour ses valeurs américaines rustiques au détriment du style de Sargent considéré jusque-là comme trop mou et raffiné, ce que l’on imputait à ses influences européennes. Mais la puissance, la nouveauté et la vigueur de son art eurent le pouvoir de confondre toute critique et firent de lui un artiste de stature égale sinon plus grande."
Gabrielle Townsend

Choix lumineux de 60 aquarelles - marines, paysages, portraits... - exécutées par John Singer Sargent (Florence, 1856 - Londres, 1925) tout au long de ses différentes pérégrinations en Italie, en France, en Angleterre, en Espagne ou encore en Égypte...