Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's Triumph of Religion at the Boston Public Library. [Hardcover]

Sally M. Promey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 1999

A brilliant painter of society portrays, John Singer Sargent also devoted many years at the height of his career to a project of an entirely different order: an ambitious, multi-media decoration titled Triumph of Religion (1890-1919) for the Boston Public Library. The library cycle Sargent imagined as his most important work. however, would ultimately remain unfinished, quietly abandoned in the face of religious opposition one critical painting short of completion. Truncation dramatically altered possible readings of Triumph, redirecting its narrative energies and generating new meanings in tension with the idea Sargent had proposed. In Pointing Religion in Public. Sally Promey tells the story of an artist of international stature and the complex and consuming pictorial program he pursued in Boston. Highly celebrated in its day, with individual panels retaining immense popularity even in the years of discord, this artistic project and its constituent images tell us much about broad cultural and political exchanges concerning the public representation of religious content in the United States.

Sargent's library decoration attracted the attention of multiple audiences and engaged concurrent debates about class, race, art, and religion. Representatives of various religious and cultural backgrounds hailed portions of the cycle as indicative of the strength of their own positions, and reproductions of the images appeared in everything from books and encyclopedias to stained glass and public pageantry. Promey analyzes the conception and production of the cycle, persuasively demonstrating that Triumph of Religion, far from promoting a narrowly sectarian version of religious practice,represented instead Sargent's public recommendation of the privacy of modern belief. The artist recast contemporary religion as spirituality, she argues, linking it not with institutions and dogma but with personal subjectivity. For Sargent this ideal was a sign of Western, especially American, progress. Carefully reconstructing patterns of reception in an increasingly diverse religious climate, and exploring the extent and character of Sargent's personal and artistic investment, Promey boldly illuminates the work Sargent hoped to make his masterpiece. At the same time, she enriches understanding of religious images in public places and popular imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Sometimes you can't win for losing in the art world. John Singer Sargent contributed immensely to the technique of portraiture, yet his portraits have been criticized for their lack of psychological insight. Likewise, he devoted his final 30 years to enhancing Boston's civic arena through a mural series at the Boston Public Library, the Boston Museum of Art, and Harvard. At the time, critics called these murals mere decoration at best. Here, Promey (art and archaeology, Univ. of Maryland) focuses on the public library murals, placing the work in its historical context. Sargent, she argues convincingly, hoped to create a ritualized, democratic intellectual space. But given the cultural climate, his choice of a religious allegory for the mural was a grave mistake. The book's only shortcoming lies in its visual reproductions: illustrations are small, black-and-white, and hard to "read." With the murals scheduled for renovation and several Sargent exhibitions just ending, readers are likely to show some interest in this title. Recommended for larger public libraries and libraries specializing in art history.ANadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, Ohio
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A fascinating new book." -- The New York Times

. . . offers a powerful example of the impact that the study of visual culture can make . . . -- Daniel A. Siedell, Church History

Integration of American history, art history, religious history, and ritual studies . . . [with] meticulous archival research. -- Paula Kane, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Offers a powerful example of the impact that the study of visual culture can make. -- Daniel A. Siedell, Church History

Promey's engrossing book lays out the whole imbroglio [and] the relationship of the pictures to the their architectural setting. -- Keith Miller, Times Literary Supplement

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (July 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691015651
• ISBN-13: 978-0691015651
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,938,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific!, January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's Triumph of Religion at the Boston Public Library. (Hardcover)

A fascinating book -- a major contribution to the history of American visual culture! This is a Sargent I hadn't seen before! The wealth of visual material in Promey's book (works of art, preparatory sketches and studies, photographs, prints, cartoons) provides testimony that Sargent's art was deeply informed by the culture of its time. It was also, as Promey shows, responsive to the artist's own intellectual and personal commitments. Highly recommended!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sargent at the Boston Public Library, May 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's Triumph of Religion at the Boston Public Library. (Hardcover)

Although lacking in adequate color plates as expressed by a previous reviewer, this text is wonderful in its description of the history of the mural which took Sargent 30 years and was never completed probably because of the controversy arising out of how religion was viewed in public in 1919, a change from when Sargent started it in 1890. The book describes the history of the mural in the context of its time of diverse social, cultural and religious matters. After viewing the actual mural at the Boston Public Library, where it is, unfortunately, covered with dirt but is being restored and cleaned, one will be overwhelmed with this painting and find the book extremely interesting and full of important historical information, as well as understand why this mural is considered one of the most important pieces of public art.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!, January 25, 2000

By 

George (Dublin, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's Triumph of Religion at the Boston Public Library. (Hardcover)

Promey leads the reader on an insightful exploration of Sargent's artistic and spiritual investment in _Triumph of Religion_. This book has changed the way I look at religious art in public places.