John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s [Hardcover]

Richard Ormond (Author), Elaine Kilmurray (Author), Warren Adelson (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art | Publication Date: November 1, 2002

This is the second volume of the catalogue raisonne of the work of the American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). It comprises over 150 formal portraits and portrait sketches in oil and watercolour that he painted between 1889 and 1900. The catalogued works have been grouped into chronological sections, each with its own introduction to set the particular group in context. In addition, an overall introduction places Sargent in the context of European portraiture of the past and of his own time. Each work is documented in depth: entries include traditional data about the painting or watercolour; details of the work's provenance, exhibition history, and bibliography; a short biography of the sitter; a discussion of the circumstances in which the work was created; and a critical discussion of its subject matter, style, and significance in Sargent's career. With very few exceptions, all the works are reproduced in colour. There is also an illustrated inventory of Sargent's studio props and accessories and a cross-referenced checklist of the portraits in which they appear.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[T]he most extensive provenance, publication, and exhibition histories to date. . . . [An] impressive package . . . an invaluable research tool for scholars. Essential." -- Choice

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Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Paul Mellon Centre BA; 1ST edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300090676
• ISBN-13: 978-0300090673
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 10 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fabulous, January 31, 2003

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sherri (Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Hardcover)

The best Sargent book yet. Volume I was good but Volume II is even better. This volume covers the 1890's when the artist began to really hit his stride as a portrait artist and the paintings are magnificent.

This book is well set out with at least one illustration to a page often with portrait sketchs and background information if available. The quality of the reproductions is very good (as in Volume I) and the information clear and well structured.

A must buy for Sargent fans (even if like me you thought you didn't need Volume II because you already had Volume I). The authors have done a great job.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, not so good reproductions, December 17, 2004

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Valentino (Zadar, Croatia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Hardcover)

I have purchased "Portraits of the 1890s" primarily for the images and I have to say that I am dissapointed. Sargent definitely deserves a monograph with better reproductions. I lost my initial desire to order remaining two books in this series (fortunately, I haven't ordered all three as I intended).

The reproductions never do justice to the originals, but this is too much. The lighter colors are washed out (for instance, one of Sargent's most famous works - portrait of Lady Agnew) and many reproductions have yellowish or reddish cast. There are even images (as in case of portrait of Helen Sears) who are washed out and, in addition, have a yellowish cast.

The values on some other reproductions (portrait of W. Graham Robertson, for instance) are compressed to the point of absurd.
There are lot of preparatory sketches and drawings in this book, but they are very small - barely larger than a postage stamps. If you're interested in that part of Sargent's oeuvre, I can recommend Dover's book "Sargent Portrait Drawings".
For truth's sake, I have to say that not all reproductions in this book are bad - half of them are tolerable (I didn't see any who is superb, though).
Being both - a painter and art history professor my standards on this particular issue may be a bit higher than those of the non artists but, generally speaking, I just don't see the point of printing poor quality reproductions in an artbook or monograph.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Singer Sargent, May 4, 2005

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Shannon Deason (Houston) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Hardcover)

This is the second in a series of three and it is just as quality as the other two. I read the review of the reader who was disappointed in this book and thus did not order the other two with shear amazement. I really recommend that she look at another copy, all I can figure is that she got a poor copy, which unfortunitely does happen even at the best publishing houses. I am highly discriminatory about poor quality pictures and overall book quality and I can assure you this book is top shelf. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an appreciation for great portrature.