Sargent’s portraits in charcoal constitute a gallery of the great and the good and the talented, scarcely less remarkable in its range of personalities than that earlier gallery of painted portraits.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions. These drawn portraits represent a substantial, yet often overlooked, part of his practice, and they demonstrate the same sense of immediacy, psychological sensitivity, and mastery of chiaroscuro that animate Sargent’s sitters on canvas. This volume presents over sixty superb portrait drawings, showcasing sitters famous for their roles in politics, society, and the arts. It also explores the friendships and the networks of patronage that underpinned Sargent’s practice as a portrait draftsman in Edwardian Britain and Progressive Era America. AUTHOR: Richard Ormond is an outstanding Sargent scholar, as well as well as being the the artist’s grand-nephew. He was previously director of the National Maritime Museum. He has worked on numerous publications, including, with Elaine Kilmurray, the nine volume Sargent catalogue raisonne, and has co-curated exhibitions on Sargent’s work in London, Washington D.C., Boston, Ferrara and Los Angeles. 100 colour illustrations