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bargainsleuth's review
3.0
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When I saw this book offered, I decided to request it because I knew Sargent was one of the most important artists in our country's history. I was most curious to find out more about his portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson based upon my interest in presidential history. I am not an art historian, nor do I study art as a hobby. I enjoy looking at books of masterpieces of art but have not seen any in person.
This book was interesting learning about John Singer Sargent's upbringing in Europe. Once he sets out on his own and truly begins his work as an artist, the book became a study of the art scene in Europe in the late 1800's in minutiae. Every major and minor sketch of Sargent's was described in detail. I was happy to see some of the many sketches and portraits described. When I finally got to the section on the Presidential portraits, it was only a few pages long and did not go into great depth.
And what's up with constantly questioning if Sargent was homosexual or not? Who cares? It doesn't make his work any more or less better. So what if he was? So what if he wasn't? He was an excellent artist. Period.
When I saw this book offered, I decided to request it because I knew Sargent was one of the most important artists in our country's history. I was most curious to find out more about his portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson based upon my interest in presidential history. I am not an art historian, nor do I study art as a hobby. I enjoy looking at books of masterpieces of art but have not seen any in person.
This book was interesting learning about John Singer Sargent's upbringing in Europe. Once he sets out on his own and truly begins his work as an artist, the book became a study of the art scene in Europe in the late 1800's in minutiae. Every major and minor sketch of Sargent's was described in detail. I was happy to see some of the many sketches and portraits described. When I finally got to the section on the Presidential portraits, it was only a few pages long and did not go into great depth.
And what's up with constantly questioning if Sargent was homosexual or not? Who cares? It doesn't make his work any more or less better. So what if he was? So what if he wasn't? He was an excellent artist. Period.
lanternheart's review
I think I'll come back to this later when my nonfiction mood hits back on the topic! It was a spur-of-the-moment find, and needs to be returned to the library.
terrimarshall's review
4.0
This was a rather scholarly version of the life of John Singer Sargent, who I find fascinating. I’m always intrigued by books on The Gilded Age, and I’ve always been fascinated by Sargent. A dominant thread throughout this whole book was the speculation on evidence that Sargent was a homosexual. While this is interesting, I got a little tired of the author’s constant harping on the subject. Also, this book had a lot of typos and errors! The editors didn’t even read the book closely, it was so academic. I still enjoyed it and learned a lot, but it took a lot of focus for me to get through the academics to just learning about the life of Sargent, which is what I was interested in.
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