Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

This is a convincing, original, and highly readable book. I've seen Sargent's Boston Public Library murals--now obscured by dirt and grime--many times. It was a real treat to see them in Promey's book, restored to their initial splendor. (I look forward to their scheduled restoration too.) I read this book because the Boston Globe art critic called it a "dazzling must-read." And she was right!

Anyone purchasing this book sight unseen will be profoundly disappointed with the overwhelming lack of clear color plates. Imagine a book about a basically unpublished subject of great interest and having it deny the reader a full experiential exploration of the works described. This book is suitable for the art historian only . Art lovers expecting a long needed color plate book about Sargent's mural masterpieces will have to wait longer. Too bad!

This book is absolutely brilliant. A previous reviewer expressed their disappointment with the lack of images. I would first like to point out that a lack of images is no reason to give the book only one star, especially considering that they were able to recognize the fact that Promey is the first to write a book on what the reviewer conceded is "a basically unpublished subject." As for the reviewer's claim that this book is only suitable for the Art Historian, I would just like to say that I read this book when I was 13, and still managed to find it thoroughly interesting and engaging. Perhaps the reviewer's need for more pretty pictures than the author (wisely) chose to include is an indicator of a lack of education and imagination on their part rather than a lack of judgment on hers.