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| The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent | 
 enlarge | Author: Carl Little
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
List Price: $31.95
Buy New: $21.09
You Save: $10.86 (34%)
Buy New/Used from $15.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 81890
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 10.5 x 9.7 x 0.6
ISBN: 0520219708
Dewey Decimal Number: 759.13
EAN: 9780520219700
ASIN: 0520219708
Publication Date: March 31, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) stands among the greatest of watercolor painters, along with J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, and other masters of this difficult medium. Watercolor was more than a distraction from the portrait and mural commissions Sargent labored over; after 1900, watercolor became central to his artistic vision. His aquarelles are, simply stated, masterworks. Portraits, interiors, landscapes, architectural studies--Sargent's work in watercolor offers great variety of subject matter, ranging from Arab gypsies to World War I soldiers, to masterful depictions of Venetian churches, to Florida swamp alligators. Sargent carried his watercolors on his travels; they were ideally suited to capturing the scene, the light, the air, wherever he found himself. This book serves as a record of his travels, featuring the paintings he produced in Palestine, Northern Africa, the Canadian Rockies, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and Greece. Among specific locales were the islands of Majorca and Corfu; Florence, Venice, Carrara, Lake Garda, and Rome; the Alps; Lake O'Hara; the coast of Maine and the Miami River. Sargent's bold and often experimental use of the medium, which sometimes led to semi- abstract images, compels admiration among contemporary painters as well as museum goers today. In addition to placing Sargent's accomplishments in the context of his life and time, Carl Little discusses the artist's extraordinary watercolor technique.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 just a comment I read August 27, 2008
I was flipping through a How to ... Watercolor book the other day. The author said to look at Sargent's watercolors every night before you go to sleep. There. Now I've justified you buying the book.
Good review of a master watercolorist October 8, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
My copy is an oversize paperback of about 160 pages. Reproductions of paintings inside are typically page-size and out weigh the text content almost ten to one. It is very much a visual document. The reproductions are, if not excellent, at least decent / good. (Nothing can match viewing a Sargent painting in person. The real colors are still subtle yet just magnificent.)
By chapters, if you will, the book is organized into about ten short ones. Hard to say more precisely. The first is biographical. A few are housekeeping: bibliography and the like. The rest, some nine units are by topic painted, mostly by region, e.g. "in the Mountains" or "Florida". The former unit contains "Mountain Stream", perhaps my most favorite watercolor of all.
Why did I buy this book? (Actually, two copies?) I think I have all of the images in at least one other book. There are other essays published about Sargent and about his watercolors, some of them quite brilliant. I've seen better reproductions. It is not a "how-to-paint" book and one couldn't learn to paint out of a book anyway. (Although to new watercolorists that idea seems quite tempting. "If only I knew just what exact brushes Sargent used...")
Two reasons for buying come to mind: because I can afford the reasonable price and because the book simply is there. The book is there and it is another perspective / angle on Sargent and his watercolors. The scholars of Greek drama tell us that there are only ten (or pick your number) plots, yet still we watch television, read new books and attend movies. A thousand times more than ten. Likewise for me, a Sargent enthusiast, one all-definitive book on Sargent would still not suffice. I have to see each viewpoint / perspective myself. Insatiably. I read them all. Carl Little's book is a good one. And I surely know good from bad; I've bought and read many quickie Sargent books with lousy reproductions trotted out just before the holiday season. This in not one of those; this is the real, quality thing. A very nice book with good if very limited text and plenty of decent reproductions. I'm glad I bought it. That is, bought them. :)
Excellent! January 11, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was looking for a Sargent book exclusively dedicated to his watercolours. I think the Carl Little book is the best one. The book is very manageable (I prefer the paperback as I use it a lot around the house as well as for reference). The size makes it also very usable, rather than having the large, heavy, coffee table editions which I find difficult to hold. The content is spot on for me; I'm after the images with a little written background to Sargent's life; this is very well presented in Little's book. The quality of the spine lacks a bit, but then again, I make sure I get out as much juice out of this book as possible!
A very interesting book September 16, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a book about the watercolours of John Singer Sargent so don't expect to see other than this. It's very well written and illustrated and it coverso all painters life. I also bought a big monographic book about Sargent and this one because I love his watercolours. I do think it's interesting to have if you already have a monographic book about this painters.
 Watercolors of John Singer Sargent August 15, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a watercolorist, this book is a model of technique, and I am happy to have it to study his composition,his values distribution and his ability to simplify without losing meaning
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