The watercolors of John Singer Sargent

the long version

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) stands among the great watercolorists, shoulder to shoulder with J. M. W. Turner, Winslow Homer and other masters of this difficult medium. Sargent's early watercolor sketches served as studies for oil paintings and portrait commissions. After 1900 watercolor became the preferred medium for expressing his personal artistic vision. Often spontaneous, these watercolors are masterworks. This first comprehensive survey devoted solely to Sargent's watercolors contains over 150 works in color - many of them never before reproduced. Carl Little's text places the artist's accomplishments in the context of his life and times and discusses his extraordinary watercolor technique.