Customer Reviews

Edwardian Portraits: Images of the Age of Opulence

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Handsome and well-produced book from ACC: hardback, cloth over boards with gold details in dustjacket. 263 pp; 2.75 pounds. Preface, Introduction, Bibliography, Index.

About 225 illustrations in color and b&w, all of them full-page. Each illustration is supported by a detailed discussion of the formal qualities of the painting, some history of the subject and/or a discussion of what the painter has achieved. The most prominent portrait painters from 1880 to 1920 appear (Whistler, Sargeant) along with many less-well known names (Sickert, Greaves, Steer, Yule, Orpen, McEvoy, and many more.)

"It may seem surprising that at the precise period when the camera became widely available, portrait painting rose to new heights. However, in an era of luxury and opulence, those who patronized the leading painters expected their portraits to emphasize qualities which photography could not easily convey."

Consequently, the images here are vital, lively, painterly, and feature compositions which -- given the traditional limitations of portraiture -- are rather ambitious.

I was quite enthusiastic to see the rather wide range of styles employed here. French influences have clearly snuck into the brains of some of these painters while other images seem firmly rooted in post-Impressionistic aesthetics. There's so much more to see here than the rosy-cheeked angel faces of young women from good families!