In the early work of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Henry James saw
"the slightly 'uncanny' spectacle of a talent which on the threshold of
its career has nothing more to learn." Sargent's talent, nay, genius was
indeed uncanny, sustained with equal intensity through his famed society
portraits, like the scandalous Madame X; his full-size showpieces,
like The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit; his thousands of watercolors
executed en plein air from Venice to Corfu to Maine to Montana; and his
ambitious mural decorations for the public monuments of Boston.
In Carter Ratcliff, Sargent has found a biographer and critic of fitting
style and subtlety. Ratcliff expertly evokes the expatriate American
milieu into which the artist was born, and offers penetrating insights
into every phase of his career and every aspect of his work. Now, for
the first time, this landmark monograph is offered in a special oversize
format, with all of its 310 illustrations reproduced in full color, many
at full-page size. It also includes a new preface by the author and an
updated bibliography.