John Singer Sargent

A comprehensive catalogue of Sargents charcoal portraits, capturing high society, professions, and the arts in an era of profound transformation In comparison with his portraits in oil, John Singer Sargents charcoal portraits are relatively little known. In this authoritative new volume, Richard Ormond documents the nearly 700 drawings that make up this distinct strand of Sargents oeuvre. These portraits capture the essence of British and American high society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, portraying an elite clientele that includes aristocracy, royalty, politicians, artists, writers, actors, financiers, and philanthropists. Among Sargents subjects are such prominent figures as the Astors, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Du Ponts, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Ethel Barrymore, W. B. Yeats, and Winston Churchill. Though renowned for his paintings of women, these charcoal portraits also reveal Sargents interest in depicting athletes across a variety of sports, from cricket and fencing to football and polo. This shift in subject matter from prewar to postwar, along with a sparser style characteristic of his charcoal work, casts new light on Sargents depictions of the periods social landscape. Surviving letters between Sargent and his patrons, reminiscences recorded in contemporary diaries, and David McKibbins extensive correspondence with sitters, both document the portraits and provide a vivid and human picture of the artist at work.