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.

The first artist to record the scenery in the American West, the book documents his itinerary and working methods through his drawings, watercolors, diaries and letters; as well as writings from other members of his trips.

Includes report of the director of fine arts, of the director of the Museum, and of the director of the Technical schools.

Holzer (vice president of communications, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) has produced a complete account of the creation by Prang, a printer known as the "father of the Christmas card," of a series of chromolithographs of Civil War scenes. Holzer's lengthy introduction describes in detail the process involved in creating the prints, setting the project in the larger context of Prang's print business in late 19th-century Boston. The extensive texts that originally accompanied the prints are included, along with good- quality color reproductions of the prints. c. Book News Inc.

The biographical material formerly included in the directory is issued separately as Who's who in American art, 1936/37-