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Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Painting & paintings > Watercolours
While any subject can be developed with a variety of compositional
strategies, in most cases, it is not the subject but the composition of
the work that gives a painting its originality and appeal. How you
compose your painting determines the way people will view it and how
they will be affected by it emotionally. This special 20th edition
features the best watercolor paintings selected from an international
call for entries, along with instructive, insightful commentary on the
theme of Creative Compositions and a special gallery of cover art from
the past 19 editions.
- 128 stunning watercolor paintings by 120+ accomplished artists
- Artists speak to artists, with captions revealing their
inspirations and techniques, allowing readers to appreciate the work on
a deeper level
- Themed chapters include cityscapes, animals, interiors, still
lifes, portraits, landscapes, seascapes and more
A brilliant representation of contemporary watercolor, this book
continues the proud tradition that has made Splash the longest-running
"best of watercolor" competition series.
John Singer Sargent's approach to watercolor was unconventional.
Going beyond turn-of-the-century standards 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 of an
exhibition in London proclaimed him "an eagle in a dove-cote";
another called his work "swagger" watercolors. For Sargent,
however, the watercolors were not so much about swagger as about a
renewed and liberated approach to painting. In watercolor, his
vision became more personal and his works more interconnected, as
he considered the way one image--often of a friend or favorite
place--enhanced another. Sargent held only two major watercolor
exhibitions in the United States during his lifetime. The contents
of the first, in 1909, were purchased in their entirety by the
Brooklyn Museum of Art. The paintings exhibited in the other, in
1912, were scooped up by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "John
Singer Sargent Watercolors" reunites nearly 100 works from these
collections for the first time, arranging them by themes and
subjects: sunlight on stone, figures reclining on grass, patterns
of light and shadow. Enhanced by biographical and technical essays,
and lavishly illustrated with 175 color reproductions, this
publication introduces readers to the full sweep of Sargent's
accomplishments in this medium, in works that delight the eye as
well as challenge our understanding of this prodigiously gifted
artist.
The international art star of the Gilded Age, John Singer Sargent
(1856-1925) was born in Italy to American parents, trained in Paris
and worked on both sides of the Atlantic. Sargent is best known for
his dramatic and stylish portraits, but he was equally active as a
landscapist, muralist, and watercolor painter. His dynamic and
boldly conceived watercolors, created during travels to Tuscan
gardens, Alpine retreats, Venetian canals and Bedouin encampments,
record unusual motifs that caught his incisive eye.
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