"Sargent makes you feel simultaneously drawn into and excluded from
the sisters' world, a phenomenon that Erica E. -Hirshler explores in
intriguing detail in Sargent's Daughters." -Megan Marshall, The New York
Times Sunday Book Review
Henry James credited John Singer Sargent with a knock-down insolence of
talent. Among the painter's many renowned works, few deserve the phrase
as much as The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882), one of
Sargent's greatest images. The painting of four young sisters in the
family apartment both follows and defies convention, crossing the
boundaries between portrait and genre scene, formal composition and
casual snapshot. At its unveiling, one prominent critic praised
Sargent's stunning originality, while another dismissed the canvas as
four corners and a void. Drawing on unpublished archival documents,
curator and scholar Erica E. Hirshler explores this iconic painting's
significance as an innovative work of art, the people involved in its
making and what became of them, its importance to Sargent's career, its
place in the tradition of artistic patronage and its changing meanings
and lasting popularity. This evocative account, newly available in
paperback, simultaneously illuminates a much-loved painting and
reaffirms its mystery.
