John Singer Sargent's approach to watercolor was unconventional. Disregarding contemporary aesthetic standards that called for carefully delineated and composed landscapes filled with transparent washes, his confidently bold, dense strokes, loosely defined forms, and unexpected vantage points startled critics and fellow practitioners alike. One reviewer of an exhibition in London proclaimed him "an eagle in a dove-cote"; another called his work "swagger"...

From the Publisher: As a young man the American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was passionate about the sea and deeply knowledgeable about ships and seafaring. Between the ages of 18 and 23 he started his career as a professional painter with a remarkable range of maritime works that form the subject of this exhibition and book. The key works are the two versions of the Oyster Gatherers of Cancale, painted in 1878 on the northern coast...

"Fashioned by Sargent explores the complicated relationship of painting and dress through lavish reproductions of major portraits and other works by Sargent, alongside exquisite costumes of the period - including garments actually worn by his sitters. Essays by leading scholars illuminate topics such as portraits and performance, gender expression, the New Woman, and the pull of history and the excitement of new ideas, offering readers new insights...

"The relationship American impressionist painters had with Italy, particularly with Florence, was very intense between the mid nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth. After the Civil War, hundreds of painters came to Italy. Florence, Venice and Rome had by long tradition been the centre of the Grand Tour and were places made legendary by those who wanted to know and study the art of the past, while also exercising a powerful fascination...