1 comments about Sargent: 16 Art Stickers (Fine Art Stickers).

1. 16 "full color" stickers printed with photo images of Sargent paintings, four to each of four tiny, 4 1/16" by 5 1/2 " plates. Miniscule, little more than postage stamp size images. Said to be not simply in color, but "full-color". Color, yes, excellent color no. From Dover I have three tiny publications: this "Sargent 16 Art Stickers", "Sargent Notebook" and "Six Women's Portrait Cards". Each of the three includes "Lady Agnew of Lochnaw" and the color in each is quite different. At most one could possibly be accurate. But what a piss-ant quibble when the price is so low; the color is decent unto the purpose.
   Some of your favorites are included, certainly some of mine. Oddly, not the original but rather the copy of Madame X that Sargent never quite finished. All images roughly equal in size and almost too small to begin to comprehend. But still quite charming. A lovely anachronism if you were to seal the envelope before posting a letter.
   But who writes letters anymore, much less seals them. I suppose I bought the booklet simply because I was curious about anything "Sargent". So they sit in a dark desk drawer in that shabby shoe box holding my postage stamps. You know, that cardboard box with all of the odd and obsolete postage? Maybe a packet of 17 cent "Via Air Mails" boasting an image of a surplus Jenny biplane for your rush communication, jobs too large for the telegraph. Maybe a Pan Am Clipper?
   Shucks, I think I'm going to use these stickers. Imagine how surprised my few friends will be to receive a letter, written, not typed (not computer printed) in a real envelope with an actual seal. And not just those free seals from the SPCA or the American Red Cross... No, a SARGENT STICKER. I'm going to do it. Tomorrow. First I have to think of something to write that I can't just say on the cell phone or in email.
   
   I'm glad I bought these stickers. :)

2 comments about John Singer Sargent's El Jaleo.

1. An excellent history and detailed analysis of the classic painting by John Singer Sargent. Although known mostly as a nineteenth century portaitist, Sargent's depiction of a Spanish dancer in El Jaleo received much critical acclaim. The book traces Sargent's artisitic influences and fascination with Spanish culture which inspired him to paint El Jaleo. There is also a great section featuring many of Sargent's early sketches and design studies. This book is a great reference for anyone interested in Sargent or this masterpiece of his early works.



2. Any serious student of the arts should read this. And you need to go to the Gardner in Boston to see the painting too. It's just mind blowing.
   People want $140 bucks and up for this paperback. Don't pay it.
   I got mine at the Gardner for ten bucks, lost it in Katrina, waited and got a used one for twenty. Or search the library.
   it's paperback- and owning one is a trust, they are limited. It needs to be reissued.
   
   So Seargent and Manet and a few other young artists ran of to Spain to squander a little youth- and some amazing things came of it. Historians of all kinds seem to have blackballed Spain, but this book is about a journey and the amazing painting that came of it.
   If you can't buy it- find one and read it.

No comments about John Singer Sargent (Library of American Art).

No comments about Sargent: The Late Landscapes.

No comments about John Singer Sargent: Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors..

3 comments about Sargent: Painting Out-of-Doors.

1. As a high school art student, money is tight and investing in expensive art books can be a pain. =-= However, this book truly is an excellent purchase.

   From the dust jacket to the glossy high-quality pages, John Esten covers the span of Sargent's life, providing a sound background for someone who is unfamiliar with Sargent.

   Regarding the images included in this book, there are a few less popular on-the-edge-of-rare pictures including a few paintings and drawings done by Sargent when he was a child/teen (which are coupled with his later watercolor and oil paintings). Note: A majority of the paintings in here are watercolor. (If you are looking for an affordable book which focuses on Sargent's oil paintings, I recommend "The Age of Elegance : The Paintings of John Singer Sargent.")

   Commentaries by Sargent's closests friends and family accompany Esten's text. Other bonuses include photographs of Sargent painting, a watercolor done by his mother (an amateur artist), and drawings/paintings done by his friends.

   (Important: this is NOT a picture book. Text and images are, for the most art, evenly distributed.)

   If you enjoy Sargent's works or paintings filled with beautiful light, then this collection, is definitely worth every penny. ^-^




2. Sargent had deep love and respect for outdoors. His parents have instilled in him and his sisters their love of travel, the natural environment, and open-mindedness which naturally led him to a career in art, especially painting. This book tells about Sargent and his quest to constantly broaden his outlook on life by traveling and exploring different cultures and lifestyles other than the bourgeois world, which had molded him in his formative years. He had done at least 500 paintings depicting the outdoor life or landscapes/seascapes. Examples are "Alligators," "Corfu," "Fumee d'Ambergris," and the Venetian paintings of the 1880s. I would recommend this book to those with an open mind about this amazingly brilliant artist, whose pictures depicted late 19th century life around the world and whose talent has taken him to the farthest reaches of the world.



3. "... The whole problem with our contemporary art market, as I see it, is that our standards for professionalism have been too low. We have been missing the mark because we have been aiming at the wrong mark. Masters in plein air painting like Sargent, Sorolla, Courbet, Homer...are the historical standards for this type of work. A contemporary artist is not a Master Artist despite publicity labeling. A Master artist, can only be determined by the historical sorting out that takes place at the end of an era or epoch. If we set our standards by comparison of our work to contemporaries, whose work has not been proven in the historical context then our standards are open to question. This allows us to easily be mislead by marketing interests." Quote from Professional Plein Air Painters Discussion ...
   ... [this] is why I believe this book is so valuable, because everytime you go back to the historically proven source of information you can't help but improve your knowledge.

No comments about John Singer Sargent.

No comments about John Singer Sargent: A Biography.

2 comments about Henry David Thoreau, The Poet's Delay: A Collection of Poetry by America's Greatest Observer of Nature.

1. Winslow Homer's watercolors perfectly complement Thoreau's works. For someone new to Thoreau's poetry, it is an enchanting collection sure to engage, capturing the essence of New England nature, and Transcendentalist philosophy. It is a beautiful tribute to two who were masters of their crafts.



2. This volume certainly isn't the first (or last) publication to match Henry David Thoreau's words with beautiful photos. The differences here are that (a) the text is solely Thoreau's poetry, and (b) the accompanying visuals are pieces from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It is Thoreau's *prose* that is most often quoted and reprinted ad infinitum. In spite of the fact that he described himself as a poet by profession, today Thoreau's poetry is frequently dismissed as being sub-par or not worth considering at all. This treatment serves to remedy that situation.
   
   Here, 52 poems are illustrated with the work of more than 20 artists. Sixteen of the paintings are from Winslow Homer and six are from John Singer Sargent. Putting Thoreau's words next to Homer's artwork is a perfect match. Both men were inspired by the natural world and conveyed their connectedness in their creations.
   
   One of the most compelling entries is not Nature-oriented. "I Am the Little Irish Boy" tells the story of a youngster whose father was a railroad worker. The facing page shows Jessie Wilcox Smith's red-haired tyke looking out from her illustration called "When Daddy was a Little Boy." The well-dressed boy in the picture is better off than the one described in the poem, and yet his eyes will catch you and make you think about the similarities instead.
   
   This smallish coffee table book could be opened to a different poem and painting each day, it's that nice. Scoop one up if you can find it!

5 comments about I Am Madame X : A Novel.

1. Madame X was a beautifully written and well researched novel. As someone who has just started reading historical fiction, and as a reader who wants the accuracity to not bog down the enjoyment of the story-I found Madame X to be both informative and very exciting.
   
   Especially well written were the chapters set during and post civil war New Orleans, followed by the characters "fish out of water" feelings as an expatriate in Paris.
   
   A quick, enjoyable novel, highly recommended to beginning fans of historical fiction.
   4.5 stars.



2. I Am Madame X is a novel about Virginie Gateau's life as she tells it. She explains her beauty, her beliefs, her family, and the history durignthe time where she lives.
   Gioia Diliberto's purpose for this novel is to teach an audience that enjoys a sad romance about history and how some people in those times lived through it. If the author is arguing , she must be defending the idea that Americans of the time were not the proud, snotty, arrogant, culture corrupters that the French thought them to be and that women are not worthless after they give themselves way out of married. The support to her believe that Americans are not all bad, come from some of the characters themselves. Virginie Amelie Gautreau and John Singer Sargent were born in( or their parents were from) the U.S.A. but came to France and totally supported the French, living their lives to please the French with their beauty and artwork. Neither John or Virginie ever tried to force American culture on the French people they knew, or steal from the fame of other French people. Virginie's life shows that she totally supported the culture of the French, she rarely ever spoke English and believed herself to be French at heart. Event though Virginie gave her virginity away at such a young age and despite her mother's predictions of a miserable life because of her promiscuity, Virginie got married, was respected by many people, and had may lovers. Just by showing a character who beat the stereotypical beliefs, Gioia's wins her arguments by example.
   I think that Gioia Dilberto did a fabulous job of meeting the objectives of teaching her audience about France during and after it's civil war, portraying the characters thoughts and actions throughout the novel, and writing a based on real people novel that is not entirely exposé.
   My conclusions about the novel are that it is a great book not only for those who are interested in romance and history, but also those who want to know more about a women's feelings toward beauty and other women who are more beautiful then she. This book gives a taste of the life of wealthy people who lived in France and America. It is a taste of history through exciting and emotional fiction. It shows the power of peer pressure on adults, and that idea is not openly portrayed enough.
   I really enjoyed the novel, it would be even better if the real Virginie was able to deal with her emotions better, but that is how she lived. I definitely enjoyed the book and would recommend it anyone I know who likes to read about other people's lives. Even with Virginie's depressing bitterness and pain, I give this book four and a half drops.



3. I Am Madame X is the fictional story delving into the woman in the painting and how the work of art came to be. Diliberto freely admits that the book is based on fact, but is a work of fiction. This keeps the pace lively as the author does not have to painstakingly adhere to historical details and therefore does not get bogged down in minutae.
   
   Diliberto provides many fanciful details that pique the reader's interest (such as Virginie's mother-in-law's flawless accounting of all of her daughter-in-law's expenditures) and paint additional pictures of the infamous Madame X. A substantial downside to the book is that there are not that many pictures of Sargent's other works. Instead of the actual pictures of the parties involved, I much would have preferred additional Sargent images.
   
   I saw the Sargent collection when it was housed in Seattle and absolutely loved it. Hearing about the artist's life and learning about society at the time provided context for Sargent's works. I find it so interesting that an artist can go from extremely popular during his time, to becoming so obscure as to be nearly forgotten, and then make such a resounding charge decades later.
   
   This book definitely served as a great entree into Sargent's life and works and makes me want to learn more!



4. As an art historian, I approached this book with a degree of trepidation. In the vein of The Da Vinci Code, so many works of historical fiction run so contrary to what is known about art that they are laughably unrealistic. I realize that these books are fiction, but the best historical fiction is written with an eye to the known facts, in an attempt to make the story more plausible. I'm not looking for, "We don't know what happened, so I can make anything up." I'm looking for, "Given what we do know, this story could very well have been possible, even though we'll never know for certain." (Tracy Chevalier excells at this.)
   
   Diliberto so ignores the facts of art history that this book is virtually impossible to choke down. Virginie Gautreau, for one thing, typically went by her middle name, Amelie. She even signed letters this way. It wouldn't have taken Diliberto, an already established biographer, an inordinate amount of research to figure this out. This mistake at the beginning of the book was a harbinger of the boring, unresearched story to come.
   
   I could forgive a lack of research, however, had the book been well written, but it was, quite simply, awful. The flatly drawn characters utter melodramatic phrases, one after the other, creating a work that reads more like a soap opera script than a novel. While Gautreau's life certainly did read like a tabloid at times, Diliberto's dialogue is completely unrealistic, oscillating between unintentionally comical and downright grating on the nerves.
   
   I have to suggest that anyone intrigued by this painting read Deborah Davis's Strapless instead. Though not a work of fiction, it is written in a style that is more conversational than academic, and it's an easy and rewarding read. Davis also put quite a lot of effort into her research, and it shows. Too bad Diliberto didn't bother.



5. This novel is simply a great story, written in crystal-clear prose. The bottom line is, you'll stay up all night reading it. One of the book's pleasures is the extraordinary research that Diliberto clearly did - about the life of the real Virginie Amelie Gautreau, (who was referred to by her nickname Mimi;) about daily plantation life in Louisianna before the War, the community of souther expatriates who took shelter in Paris afterwards, the techniques that of 19th. century painting. Every detail has authority.