Sargent : Painting Out-of-Doors

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Summary: Sargent: Painting Out-Of-Doors by John Esten
Review: "... 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.

Rating:
Summary: Review: Painting Out-Of-Doors
Review:

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. ^-^

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Summary: This book expressed Sargent's Outdoor Life
Review: 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.