Customer Reviews

The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has fairly good reproductions of Sargent's watercolors. What I enjoy most is seeing many of his watercolors for the first time. My only complaint is that the book's smaller size limits how big the reproductions can be. Otherwise, this is a fantastic book.

Sargent's inspirations were Velasquez, Hals, Rubens. These were painters who understood the play of light. And they had a worthy apprentice in JSS.He understands that it is light that is the unifier of all his paintings, regardless of theme. JSS painted in watercolour for his own pleasure. (His mother taught him the medium at an early age). His brilliant mastery of both technique, light and sumptious colour are all captured in the reproductions in this book. Like others who have reviewed the book I return to it again and again. Happy pictures by a Mozart of the medium. How could you not buy it?

I turn to this book time and again and am always astounded at the paintings. In his watercolor work, Sargent was a "Painter's Painter" - an artist who worked with paint so playfully, with color so passionatly, with caligraphic brushwork so seemingly irreverent - that the final effect is breathtaking and as fresh as the moment it was painted.

My copy is an oversize paperback of about 160 pages. Reproductions of paintings inside are typically page-size and out weigh the text content almost ten to one. It is very much a visual document. The reproductions are, if not excellent, at least decent / good. (Nothing can match viewing a Sargent painting in person. The real colors are still subtle yet just magnificent.)
By chapters, if you will, the book is organized into about ten short ones. Hard to say more precisely. The first is biographical. A few are housekeeping: bibliography and the like. The rest, some nine units are by topic painted, mostly by region, e.g. "in the Mountains" or "Florida". The former unit contains "Mountain Stream", perhaps my most favorite watercolor of all.
Why did I buy this book? (Actually, two copies?) I think I have all of the images in at least one other book. There are other essays published about Sargent and about his watercolors, some of them quite brilliant. I've seen better reproductions. It is not a "how-to-paint" book and one couldn't learn to paint out of a book anyway. (Although to new watercolorists that idea seems quite tempting. "If only I knew just what exact brushes Sargent used...")
Two reasons for buying come to mind: because I can afford the reasonable price and because the book simply is there. The book is there and it is another perspective / angle on Sargent and his watercolors. The scholars of Greek drama tell us that there are only ten (or pick your number) plots, yet still we watch television, read new books and attend movies. A thousand times more than ten. Likewise for me, a Sargent enthusiast, one all-definitive book on Sargent would still not suffice. I have to see each viewpoint / perspective myself. Insatiably. I read them all. Carl Little's book is a good one. And I surely know good from bad; I've bought and read many quickie Sargent books with lousy reproductions trotted out just before the holiday season. This in not one of those; this is the real, quality thing. A very nice book with good if very limited text and plenty of decent reproductions. I'm glad I bought it. That is, bought them. :)

I agree that some reproductions are rather small but it is a beautiful and interesting book that makes a great Xmas present. I enjoyed following Sargent through his far away destinations !! I personally think he is underrated when compared to Winslow Homer !

I was flipping through a How to ... Watercolor book the other day. The author said to look at Sargent's watercolors every night before you go to sleep. There. Now I've justified you buying the book.

I was looking for a Sargent book exclusively dedicated to his watercolours. I think the Carl Little book is the best one. The book is very manageable (I prefer the paperback as I use it a lot around the house as well as for reference). The size makes it also very usable, rather than having the large, heavy, coffee table editions which I find difficult to hold. The content is spot on for me; I'm after the images with a little written background to Sargent's life; this is very well presented in Little's book. The quality of the spine lacks a bit, but then again, I make sure I get out as much juice out of this book as possible!

As a watercolorist, this book is a model of technique, and I am happy to have it to study his composition,his values distribution and his ability to simplify without losing meaning

My watercolor teacher used this book in class and I was so fascinated with the artist, John Singer Sargent, that I bought a copy for myself. However I noticed that many of the color photos of his works were darker in value than the ones in her book. I took mine to class and we compared the two books. It seems they are identical except my copy has darker value on many prints and they were from different printings. Anyway, the color is a bit disappointing. But I am glad I bought the book anyway. I love this artist. His watercolors were so innovative. As my teacher pointed out, he was an impressionistic master that went unnoticed at the time. He is noted for his portraiture, which is how he earned his substantial living. But his watercolor was his best work.

Compare to John Singer Sargent's oil painting, his watercolor master pieces shows other side of this Master's talent full with free spirit. The book contains many high quality pieces that are excellent for someone who wants to learn the watercolor painting from a super master. There are pieces in this book that representing an old technique of combining watercolor with gouache, which is seldom used today and considered out of trend because gouache is opaque. However, the way he used in his paintings showed his truly masterful control of transparency with both materials, and extended both of their advantages to the best.
It is also a great piece to add to your art book collections, especially if you love his oil paintings, too.