John Singer Sargent

After the death of her father, Isabel Archer, a young American woman, travels to England to stay with her aunt, where she finds herself an object of affection for several men. When she is left a large legacy by her ailing uncle, she also attracts the attention of those with an interest in her substantial fortune. Faced with decisions about her future, Isabel must live with the consequences of the choices she makes, as her life is forever altered. The...

Many of the sitters in this collection were John Singer Sargent's close friends. They are posed informally, sometimes in the act of painting or singing, and it is evident from the bold way they confront us that they are personalities of a creative stamp. Brilliant as these pictures are as works of art and penetrating studies of character, they are also records of relationships, allegiances, influences and aspirations. This volume aims to explore these...

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...