Sargent and Italy
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Sargent and Italy Details
From Booklist This handsome volume explores, for the first time, the intimate link between American artist John Singer Sargent and Italy, the country of his birth. Born to American parents in 1856, Sargent traveled extensively throughout Europe. From childhood on, he was entranced with the Italian Renaissance, and, by age 12, he was sketching the artistic and scenic wonders of Italy, which became "the country he repeatedly returned to for inspiration and refreshment." Contrary to earlier studies that dismissed or minimized its influence, Robertson and his contributors view Italy as the foundation upon which Sargent built his magnificent oeuvre. In a series of groundbreaking essays, contributors explore the painter's early studies of Venetian scenes, his portraits and murals, landscapes and garden paintings, and what are referred to as his Alpine paintings. The book also details Sargent's relationships with such influential writers and artists as Henry James, Edith Wharton, and James Whistler. Extremely well written and filled with magnificent reproductions, this beautiful volume offers the first in-depth and original study of this great artist in many years. Lauren RobertsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more Review "Beautiful and informative. . . . Italy was extremely influential on Sargent's work, which makes this a significant addition to book son Sargent." (Library Journal)"With each new book on the ever-popular John Singer Sargent, readers learn more about the substantive complexities of an artist too often dismissed as simply a fashionable portraitist. The attraction of this appealing book . . . is the opportunity it affords for scholarly focus on a key aspect of Sargent's career." (Choice)"[Sargent's] synthesis of the classic and the contemporary plays with light and shadow to create a shimmering sensuality. . . . [He] seemed to revel in the freedom which watercolors provide, and it is tempting to see these later Italian works as a release of sorts from the murals and high-toned portraits. . . . [T]hese paintings, of gardens, quarries, cypresses, and of his family and friends on holiday, convey a powerful sense of that liberation."---Michael Carlson, Times Literary Supplement"Sargent became one of the most international American artists of his day, shuttling around Italy, France, England, and the United States, but he knew Italy most intimately. . . . [He] hated the dull routine of society portraiture, and his Italian trips--painting peasants in Capri, Venetian bead stringers, Alpine brooks--refreshed him."---Katherine Zoepf, New York Times Book Review"Extremely well written and filled with magnificent reproductions, this beautiful volume offers the first in-depth and original study of this great artist in many years." (Booklist)"Sargent and Italy, a lavishly illustrated volume . . . reminds us that Italy is both a place and an idea. . . . The idea of Italy--a metaphor for excess, romance and seduction--has . . . been . . . important to artists, among them John Singer Sargent. . .. Sargent and Italy insists, convincingly, that Sargent's vision of Italy was ultimately his own."---Christopher Capozzola, The Art Book Read more About the Author Bruce Robertson is professor of the history of art and architecture at the University of California in Santa Barbara. He is a specialist in American art from 1700 to 1945 and has published books on Winslow Homer and Marsden Hartley. Read more
Reviews
This study hinges on the notion that while most famous as a portrait painter trained in the atelier of Carolus Duran, Sargent'swork in Italy was important to his development as an artist. This fine study covers his approach to the land and city scape,the Italian people,as well as the artists he met and was influenced by while there.It does a fine job of placing his Italian voyages in the context of his career.The illustrations and reproductions are copious and do a good job although this is by no means an art album or "coffee table " book - thankfully!