John Singer Sargents approach to watercolour was unconventional. Disregarding late-nineteenth-century aesthetic standards that called for carefully delineated and composed landscapes filled with transparent washes, his confidently bold, dense strokes and loosely defined forms startled critics and fellow practitioners alike. One reviewer in England, where Sargent spent much of his adult life, called his work swagger watercolours. For Sargent, however, the watercolours were not so much about swagger as about a new way of thinking. In watercolour as opposed to oils his vision became more personal and his works more interconnected. Presenting nearly 100 works of art, this book is the first major publication of Sargents watercolours in twenty years. Each chapter highlights a different subject or theme that attracted the artists attention during his travels through Europe and the Middle East: sunlight on stone, figures reclining on grass, patterns of light and shadow. Insightful essays by the worlds leading experts enhance this book and introduce readers to the full sweep of Sargents accomplishments in the medium, in works that delight the eye as well as challenge our understanding of this prodigiously gifted artist.
Excerpt from Catalogue of a Group Exhibition of Water Color Paintings, Pastels, Drawings and Sculpture by American and European Artists: November 19-December 20, Inclusive, 1923 The Brooklyn Museum is especially interested in spreading the taste for water color painting. In the contemplation of the Museum, this is an art, not only replete with charm and with many practical features that should make for popularity, but it is worthy of the most serious study of discriminating art lovers. There is an impression that this branch of painting is without the dignity and importance of oils; that it is suitable only to the amateur with casual training, and that it involves no special difficulties for him. This is far from the truth. An art honored by the life long practice of Winslow Homer, not to cite many other distinguished painters, is not a minor art, nor inferior in its requirements to that of any other department of the fine arts; There are in fact many excellent painters in oil, but to be suc cessful in water color painting in its highest sense takes genius. It must be remembered that water color is a free flowing liquid and every stroke of the brush, accidental or intentional, remains on the drawing paper. The colors cannot be readily expunged or changed without injury to the picture. The artist must from the outset exercise the utmost vigilance. It is essentially the first stroke that counts. For this reason a true transparent watercolor painting is apt to convey in a singularly lucid manner the inspired impulse of the painter, and in consequence one feels closer to his thought than in the often labored and elaborated canvases of the painter m oils. Water color is especially adapted to the American artist. There is something in the joyous freedom of handling and brilliancy of effect possible in this medium that corresponds to the nature conditions by which the artist is typically surrounded, the sparkle of the somewhat thin atmosphere, the preponderance of sunlight, the vivid coloration and high visibility, and perhaps the absence of that vague atmospheric mystery found every. Where also, except in the tropics. The possibilities in the employment of these elements have been shown by what has already been achieved, and great things may be looked forward to in the future. For this reason the Brooklyn Museum has by its exhibitions laid stress on the importance of water color. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Step into Jean Haines distinctive, exciting world of watercolour with this, the ultimate guide to her influences, style and work. Jean's loose, expressive paintings are filled with colour and personality, embracing a range of subjects that includes flowers, animals, people and places, all influenced by the countries and cities she's lived in and the people she's met during her life. This beautiful book contains easy-to-follow and inspiring introductory sections such as an artists treasure chest and the colour gym, offering practical guidance and in-depth exercises in an innovative and accessible way, and the numerous examples of Jeans work will inspire and encourage novice as well as experienced artists. After this introductory section, the book shows the reader how to put the skills they've learned into practice with gorgeous step-by-step projects packed full of expert tips and advice, encouraging them to move forward and develop their own style of working. Like her painting, Jean's writing is filled with passion and enthusiasm, transporting the reader through a world of watercolour that will not fail to excite and inspire.
English landscape watercolor painting, a perfect marriage of genre and medium, entered a lively period of experimentation in style and content during the second half of the nineteenth century, with rich and diverse results. Through all the changes of style and technique and all the debates over the appropriate use of the medium, it was watercolor's ability to convey the timeless truth and reality of the natural world that mattered to artists, critics, and audiences. British watercolors of the Victorian period continued to observe an essential humility before nature; they remain fresh and compellingly immediate because they derived in the first place from the artists' heartfelt communion with the elements of nature. Victorian Landscape Watercolors begins with a consideration of the continuing influence of the great generation who earlier in the century, during the extraordinary parallel rise of watercolor and landscape painting, had established the landscape watercolor as a major British contribution to the arts. The second chapter examines the role of the landscape watercolor in the aesthetic thought of John Ruskin, whose critical voice played a dominant role in shaping that art. The third chapter looks at the place of landscape within the watercolor societies and its development as it appeared in their annual exhibitions. The final chapter deals with the tug of new and old, foreign and native in the later Victorian period. The book also features 126 watercolors, from public and private collections in America and England, all reproduced in full color and accompanied by individual commentaries. Among the 76 artists represented are David Cox, Sr. and Jr., Walter Crane, William HolmanHunt, Edward Lear, Samuel Palmer, James Mallord William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and Ruskin himself, along with dozens of lesser-known masters of the medium. Victorian Landscape Watercolors is published in conjunction with the first exhibition to survey this period of this particularly British contribution to the arts; the exhibition, organized by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, will also be seen at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Birmingham, England.
"In the 1870s and 1880s, artists' societies promoted watercolors as attractive, decorative, inexpensive alternatives to oils, successfully elevating them to the mainstream of American art. Based in New York City, this American watercolor movement paved the way for larger, more seriously received exhibition watercolors, and for a broad turn-of-the-century effort by public institutions - among them the Brooklyn Museum of Art - to acquire American works in the medium." "Highlighting 150 paintings that span nearly two centuries, this richly illustrated volume documents the origin and development of one of the nation's finest collections by investigating for the first time aspects of American watercolor's patronage and critical reception." "Less often displayed than oils because of their sensitivity to light, watercolors nevertheless have enjoyed a lively, complex history. Illuminating well-known works as well as many that have never before been reproduced, Masters of Color and Light showcases an array of paintings that range far beyond watercolor's early reputation as the "lighter and daintier" medium."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The fascinating story of the transformation of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925 The formation of the American Watercolor Society in 1866 by a small, dedicated group of painters transformed the perception of what had long been considered a marginal medium. Artists of all ages, styles, and backgrounds took up watercolor in the 1870s, inspiring younger generations of impressionists and modernists. By the 1920s many would claim it as "the American medium." This engaging and comprehensive book tells the definitive story of the metamorphosis of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925, identifying the artist constituencies and social forces that drove the new popularity of the medium. The major artists of the movement - Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, William Trost Richards, Thomas Moran, Thomas Eakins, Charles Prendergast, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, Charles Demuth, and many others - are represented with lavish color illustrations. The result is a fresh and beautiful look at watercolor's central place in American art and culture.
Excerpt from Catalogue of a Group Exhibition of Water Color Paintings, Pastels and Drawings by American and European Artists: April 14-May 10 Inclusive, 1925 In organizing the third exhibition of water color paintings, pastels and drawings at the Brooklyn Museum, the Committee has adhered in general to the policies which governed the pre vions exhibitions. The majority of the present group of exhibitors have not shown at the Museum since 1923 and the list contains some names entirely new to the Brooklyn Museum public. The artists' interest in water color painting continues un abated and the tendencies are sound, especially as demonstrated in the present exhibition by the almost universal adaptation by the painters of direct, vigorous methods of execution. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
