John Singer Sargent: The Sensualist

Rating:
Summary: The Best Sargent Book Ever!
Review: I'm a big Sargent fan. Fairbrother have done an unbiased work on Sargent. All his life, Sargent have always been attractive to the exotic, the bizarre, and the supernation and loved color and gaiety in his life. In his early paintings, he had painted many ethnic women including Rosina Ferrara, whom I've compared her to Chilli of TLC and I have two websites dedicated to both Chilli and Rosina Ferrara. He painted beautiful, lively gypsy women remininscent of Carmen, which was played around the same era as Sargent. His book is a wealth of pictures and sketches never seen before. Especially his book of nudes, which he had done when he wasn't busy painting wealthy patrons. Those sketches were realistic and, of course, very sensual for those with an open mind. It's a treat for those who are really interested in this brilliant artist.

Rating:
Summary: Fleshing out John Singer Sargent
Review: The current re-evaluation of the contributions of John Singer Sargent to the art of the USA, as indicated by the impressive exhibition "Sargent And Italy" currently in Los Angeles, the steady flow of new books about his work, and the academic resurgence of emphasis on his importance in American art at the turn of the last century - this re-evaluation has been truly underscored by this very fine book by Trevor Fairbrother. Written with great style and zest, the author explores the sensual nature of an artist once considered a 'society portraitist', a good painter but one more concerned with reaping the wealth from his gifts than in painting for art's sake. Well, bury that prejudice, as Fairbrother reveals Sargent's preoccupation with the human body, not only elegantly clothed but sensually nude. A fine example is "Nude Study of Thomas E. McKellar" in which Sargent paints his favorite African American model in a beautifully erotic pose.

But the sensuality does not stop with the plethora of nude figure studies. Indeed, the author demonstrates how Sargent's compositions of landscapes and buildings as well as outdor and indoor groups of people are rendered with a sensual manipulation of light and pigment. And much time and discussion focuses on the famous painting 'El Jaleo' of a flamenco dancer barely visible in the artificial light of the stage, making her sensual movements of the hands and wrists ring like the music accompanying her.

This well written book is lavishly illustrated with excellent color reproductions and gifts us with a significant body of work at book's end - a folio of male nudes called "Album of Figure Studies" which alone is worth the price of this superb volume.
Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: a sensual book...
Review: This is a wonderful book for any lover of Sargent's work. I have quite a few monographs on Sargent, and this one contains work which I have not seen before. It focuses on every aspect of his ouvre, from portraits, landscapes, genre, and figurative studies. Not only do the selected works represent the sensuality that eminates from Sargent's hand and mind, but the layout of the actual book reflects this also. The last section of the book is devoted to some of his male figure charcoal studies, which are incredibly inspiring. They are printed on laid paper (different from the rest of the book), and have a beautiful quality to them. Most of them are even different drawings than those reproduced in the "Sargent: Male Nudes" book. This is very refreshing to see, as the drawings bring us right into the studio with Sargent, almost looking over his shoulder while he renders the figure with unwavering power and finesse....