American Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume 3: John Singer Sargent [Hardcover]

Stephanie L. Herdrich (Author), H. Barbara Weinberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2000 | Series: Metropolitan Museum of Art Series

The celebrated expatriate painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and his heirs enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In consequence, the museum has an unparalleled collection of Sargent's works, in particular his drawings and watercolors, which are all presented in this comprehensive volume.

The book contains an introduction that describes the Metropolitan's acquisition of Sargent's works, an essay on his watercolor technique, and illustrations of the 337 individual sheets and every page from four sketchbooks. Entries are organized chronologically and thematically into four sections: Sargent's childhood and adolescence; student years in Paris and early career; professional accomplishments from 1890 to 1925; and studies made during his extensive travels from 1890 to 1925.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An expatriate American living in England, John Singer Sargent was an immensely gifted artist and the leading international portraitist of his day. He produced his magnificent oil paintings of the social elite after lengthy preparations that included numerous studies and sketches. American Drawings and Watercolors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: John Singer Sargent presents the Met's collection of four sketchbooks and 337 single sheets by Sargent, from rough to highly finished designs. Many of the watercolors and a handful of the drawings are brilliant, but they are lesser works than the great paintings; this book is an important art-historical study rather than an art book.

Two introductory essays describe the formation of the collection and the artist's techniques. The material is divided into four sections covering Sargent's childhood, early career, professional activity, and travel, each introduced by details of the artist's life. The drawings provide useful contexts for his major paintings. For example, intimate sketches of Madame Gautreau, the sitter for his portrait Madame X, whose scandalously low shoulder strap led to the closing of Sargent's Paris studio, clarify the narrative that precedes the section "Student Years and Early Career, 1874-89." Watercolors from his visit to the frontlines during World War I include naked soldiers bathing; these and other material have led to speculation about Sargent's sexual orientation, which is beginning to attract critical analysis. The complex material is extensively and intelligently footnoted, and a chronology of Sargent's life, exhibitions, and a bibliography round out the book's encyclopedic scholarship. The first of a series documenting the Met's collections of master-drawings, this book is a treasure-trove and an art historian's delight. --John Stevenson

From the Inside Flap

The celebrated expatriate painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and his heirs enjoyed a cordial relationship with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In consequence, the museum has an unparalleled collection of Sargent's works, in particular his drawings and watercolors, which are all presented in this comprehensive volume.The book contains an introduction that describes the Metropolitan's acquisition of Sargent's works, an essay on his watercolor technique, and illustrations of the 337 individual sheets and every page from four sketchbooks. Entries are organized chronologically and thematically into four sections: Sargent's childhood and adolescence; student years in Paris and early career; professional accomplishments from 1890 to 1925; and studies made during his extensive travels from 1890 to 1925.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 444 pages
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art (September 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300085192
• ISBN-13: 978-0300085198
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sargent Treasury, October 8, 2007

By 

Peter McReynolds (California U S) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume 3: John Singer Sargent (Hardcover)

First... some disclosure. I am a "card-carrying" admirer of John Singer Sargent and of all of his work. I have more than fifty books on Sargent. And I am an obsessive amateur watercolorist; half of our home is filled with paintings, paintings in progress and painting supplies. But, a little rational mitigation... I am not monomaniacal. I also deeply appreciate the work of other greats such as John Whorf and Winslow Homer. And today's Trevor Chamberlain, John Yardley, David Curtis, etc. So, if you like this kind of work, then you'll love this book.

Love it even without any fancy academic theory, art history or the like. Like me, you can just look at a reproduction of an alpine brook in watercolor by Sargent and simply say, "Wow!" And pass your eyes over every millimeter. "Look how he suggests those rocks and ferns!" But then I also greatly enjoy reading the textual background. Where it was done. In what context. Sargent's visits and vacations. The work's provenance. This last can be facinating as in the case of Sargent's recently surfaced, fabulous and obviously originally "mis-acquired" by a maid, "Spanish Dancer". Why, if my own work was any good and further if I did employ a maid then I'd be very careful to... :)
Well, obviously I can speak only as a naive Sargent enthusiast, but I can't recommend this book more. I read it over and over. I'd have paid twice the price.

Approximately 11 & 1/2 by 9 inches and 426 pages. Published by the Metropolitan in 2000. An excellent physical production in the usual quality manner of Yale University Press, lately the source of excellent series on artists. (Here, Sargent but also the likes of William Merritt Chase. Yale was a physical partner in this particular Sargent enterprise.) This book is organized roughly chronologically, from Sargent's youth onwards. However, there's much more; an Essay on Materials and Techniques, a Sargent Chronology, an Exhibition History, a Record of Travel and Other Studies, and an appendix, Works of Questionable Attribution.

Finally, for some, the category "drawing" can be confusing, as is evident here it also includes watercolors. Go figure. But, I don't mind the nomenclature as long as the academics provide me with pretty decent reproductions and an interesting history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sargent Works on Paper in the Met, June 25, 2011

By 

Walter L. Mosley (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume 3: John Singer Sargent (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book. If you want to learn about Sargent techniques concerning watercolor, this book is essential for your library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a rare glimpse into Sargent's early years., March 9, 2011

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Brenno (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: American Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume 3: John Singer Sargent (Hardcover)

An excellent, comprehensive, and rare collections of Sargent's drawings and watercolors. Good emphasis is given to his sketchbooks (including early sketchbooks, with sketches dating from when Sargent was barely 14 years old), and as such it gives one a rare glimpse into the early stages of the formation of the artist. I am surprised there are not more reviews of this book -- highly recommended.