John Singer Sargent Complete paintings

Ormond is perhaps the premier scholar of the art of John Singer Sargent, and it is gratifying to see him at work, in collaboration with Kilmurray, on a catalogue raisonne of the painter's portraits, studies, and landscapes. This beautiful book, the first installment in a projected four-volume series, covers the portraits through 1889. There are 231 catalog entries providing descriptions of each painting and background on the sitter. The vast majority are accompanied by excellent color illustrations. Often sketches are included to trace the development of a work, but for comparison with period photographs of some of Sargent's subjects, one must turn to James Lomax and Ormond's John Singer Sargent and the Edwardian Age (1979). Studies of unnamed models are also largely absent, leaving the reader to consult Ormond's John Singer Sargent: Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors (CH, May`71). Nevertheless, this splendid book will be an indispensable source for anyone seriously interested in this stylish painter. The documentation could not be better. Exhibition history; chronology. Recommended for college, university, and all art libraries. W. S. Rodner; Tidewater Community College

This work, published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and the result of 16 years of research, is the first volume of the definitive catalogue raisonné of Sargent's works in oil, watercolor, and pastel. This volume covers Sargent's formative years in France and England and his first professional trip to America in 1887. His subjects range from family and friends to writers and other artists, as well as the famous Robert Louis Stevenson looking gaunt and the actress Ellen Terry in her role as Lady MacBeth. It was also during this creative period that Sargent painted the well-known group portrait "The Daughters of Edward D. Boit" and the portrait of Madame Gautreau, the controversial and exotic "Madame X." The planned Volume 2 will cover Sargent from 1890 to the end of his career, bringing together nearly 600 portraits, 1600 landscapes, and three murals, many reproduced for the first time. Volume 1 is illustrated with 80 black-and-white and 180 color reproductions. Each sitter is identified, with discussion on the context of the painting, along with provenance and exhibition history. A good companion to Trevor Fairbrother's more text-driven John Singer Sargent (LJ 7/94). Highly recommended for all collections.‘Joseph C. Hewgley, Nashville P.L., TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.