Sargent and Fashion explores the dynamic relationship of painting and dress - from portraits and performance, gender expression and the New Woman, to the pull of tradition and the excitement of new ideas.

"The coat is the picture," John Singer Sargent exclaimed to his fellow artist Graham Robertson in the summer of 1894, tugging a heavy overcoat ever more tightly around his sitter's slender figure. Sought-after by sitters for his ability to present to the world flattering and engaging likenesses, Sargent was simultaneously pursuing his own artistic vision.

Rather than holding up a mirror to contemporary fashion, Sargent made fashion a part of his artistic repertoire. He often chose what his sitters wore, pinned their garments, or draped fabric around them, all with a view to creating confections to be recorded on canvas through his unrivalled artistic gifts.

With contributions from many of the leading thinkers on Sargent and his world, and lavish reproductions of major portraits and exquisite costumes of the period, this publication offers a vital new perspective on one of the most famous and fashionable artists of all time.

About the Author
Erica E. Hirshler is Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Caroline Corbeau-Parsons is Curator of Drawings at the Musee d'Orsay. James Finch is Assistant Curator, 19th Century British Art, Tate Britain. Pamela A. Parmal is Chair and David and Roberta Logie Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts Emerita, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


Book Information
ISBN 9781849768948
Author Erica E. Hirshler
Format Hardback
Page Count 248
Imprint Tate Publishing
Publisher Tate Publishing