John Singer Sargent's work in watercolor was unorthodox. He overturned traditional contemporary compositional standards and avoided the obviously picturesque, developing an audacious and sophisticated technique, an expression of his personal modern aesthetic. He ignored the celebrated panoramas of Venice and the traditional description of landscape; instead his watercolors challenged the viewer with unconventional angles, confrontational poses and geometric forms. This engaging volume takes a fresh look at Sargent's idiosyncratic view of the world through some of his most beguiling watercolors. These works are deeply personal and immensely appealing.

Author: Richard Ormond, Elaine Kilmurray
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Giles
Published: 08/08/2017
Pages: 168
Weight: 2.95lbs
Size: 11.00h x 9.50w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781911282075


Review Citation(s):
Choice 12/01/2017

About the Author
Richard Ormond is Sargent's great-nephew and was formerly Director of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. He and Elaine Kilmurray are co-authors of a catalogue raisonné of Sargent's work (Yale University Press, 1998-2015). They were joint curators of exhibitions of the artist's work at Tate, London (and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, Italy (and Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Denver Museum of Art). Richard Ormond was curator of a recent exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London (and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).