John Singer Sargent: The Sensualist - Hardcover

Trevor Fairbrother

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300087446 ISBN 13: 9780300087444

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2000

Synopsis

In this beautiful book, Trevor Fairbrother argues that viewing John Singer Sargent as a sensualist connects otherwise conflicting elements of his oeuvre and offers a new interpretation of his life and work. The book is lavishly illustrated with examples of the artist's oils, watercolors, and sketches, and it includes a little-known series of expressive charcoal drawings of male nudes, here published together in color for the first time.Published in association with the Seattle Art Museum

About this title

About the Author

Trevor Fairbrother is the deputy director of art and Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern Art at the Seattle Art Museum.

From the Inside Flap

The art of John Singer Sargent is extraordinarily sensual in its evocation of textures, atmosphere, body gestures, and light. In this beautiful book, Trevor Fairbrother argues that viewing the artist as a sensualist connects otherwise conflicting elements of his oeuvre and offers a new interpretation of his life and work. Fairbrother discusses the complex currents in Sargent's life, analyzes how these shaped his work, and shows how his skills as a draftsman formed the foundation for his rapid, broadly brushed painting style. The book is lavishly illustrated with numerous examples of Sargent's oils, watercolors, and sketches-in particular his portraits and studies of models and dancers- that amply demonstrate the sensual aspect of his art. Fairbrother describes how Sargent used incidental details to arouse visual shock and to delight his audience, pointing to such works as the portraits of London art dealer Asher Wertheimer and his family, as well as to the notorious Madame X, which created a furor at the 1884 Paris Salon. Fairbrother also gives special attention to a little-known series of expressive charcoal drawings of male nudes in Sargent's "Album of Figure Studies." All thirty-one sheets from this album are published together in color for the first time in this new study. In addition, Fairbrother addresses Venetian, Moroccan, and other exotic vignettes that show Sargent's fascination with dramatics of light, personalities, and locale.This book accompanies an exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum that runs from December 2000 to March 2001.

Reviews

One of the most beloved American painters, Sargent (1856-1925) is lately undergoing critical reevaluation. Fairbrother concentrates on the quality in his work that, more than any other, appeals most powerfully to most viewers. Sargent was, museum official Mimi Gardner Gates says in the foreword, "a reserved person who made exuberant art." Essential to that exuberance is the keen attractiveness of the figures, male and female, clothed and nude, in his work. If they aren't all necessarily sexy, those that could be--robust adults--virtually always are, and few fail to evoke the desire to touch, even to caress, them. Fairbrother presents a ravishing selection of Sargent's paintings and graphic art as he explores the personal sources of the sensuousness of Sargent's work and the techniques he used to achieve it. An album of Sargent's male figure studies, printed on cream-colored stock, fetchingly concludes the book. Ray Olson
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Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300087446
• ISBN 13: 9780300087444
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 228