Volume II: Portraits of the 1890's
Hardcover, 240 pages, 9-3/4 x 12 inches
60 b/w, 200 color illustrations

Volume III: The Later Portraits
Hardcover, 364 p., 9-3/4 x 12 inches
45 b/w, 220 color illustrations

f the portrait artist could only afford three books for his library, these three volumes must be those books. These three gloriously illustrated volumes provide color reproductions of virtually every portrait by Sargent, each accompanied by an engrossing and informative commentary. Volume I catalogues the portraits from the beginning of Sargent's career (1874) until the conclusion of the 1880's. The second volume chronicles Sargent's portraits during his prolific decade of the 1890's. The third volume of the trilogy covers the years from 1900 until the artist's death in 1925.

Volume I catalogues portraits by Sargent from 1874, when he began his training in Paris, and covers pictures painted while he was establishing his reputation in Paris, during his early years in England, and on his first professional visit to America in 1887. The early portraits in this book range from private images of Sargent's family and friends to studies of writers and fellow artists and formal portraits of Parisian celebrities and patrons in France, England, and America. These include his most controversial work, Madame X, and studies of some of the major artistic figures of the day: Claude Monet, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Ellen Terry in her role as Lady Macbeth.

Volume II comprises over 150 formal portraits and portrait sketches in oil and watercolor that Sargent painted between 1889 and 1900. The catalogued works have been grouped into chronological sections, each with its own introduction to set the particular group in context. In addition, an overall introduction places Sargent in the context of European portraiture of the past and of his own time.

Volume III comprises over two hundred portraits and portrait sketches in oil and watercolor painted between 1900 and the artist's death in 1925.

Each work is catalogued in depth, with a biographical account of the sitter, a discussion of the contemporary context of the painting, and a detailed provenance, exhibition history, and bibliography. Almost all of the paintings are shown, including some that have never been reproduced before.

Richard Ormond is an independent art historian and Sargent's grand-nephew. Elaine Kilmurray is research director of the John Singer Sargent catalogue raisonné project.

These books can be ordered online through Amazon.com

John Singer Sargent : The Early Portraits (Volume One)
John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the 1890s (Volume Two)
John Singer Sargent: The Later Portraits (Volume Three)

or by contacting the publisher:
Yale University Press
P.O. Box 209040
New Haven, Connecticut 06520-9040
Customer Service and Ordering:
Phone: (800)405-1619
Fax: (800)406-9145
customer.care@triliteral.org