"An evocative rendering of the great portraitist, John Singer
Sargent, as seen through the eyes of the subjects of his most
famous paint-ings. A tour de force of historical and psychological
imagination."
--Paula Marantz Cohen, What Alice Knew, Jane Austen in
Scarsdale
"John Singer Sargent painted some of the most compelling and
psy-chologically revealing portraits of his day, while remaining an
enigma to those who knew him. Burns skillfully brings the subjects
of his portraits to life, telling their stories in their own voices
as the mys-tery of who Sargent really is, and the culture that both
supported and constrained him, is gradually and artfully
revealed."
--Laurel Corona, Finding Emilie, Penelope's Daughter, The Four
Seasons
"Set in the Europe of 1882, the writing is richly subtle and each
character exquisitely drawn. One hears murmurs behind doors and the
truth just beyond the corner until the hearts of two women--one
very young and one very beautiful--are broken forever. In the end
of this fascinating novel, however, it is the portrait of the young
artist himself, still an enigma, which lingers in the reader's
mind. Wonderful writing!"
--Stephanie Cowell, Claude & Camille, Marrying Mozart,
The Players: A Novel of the Young Shakespeare "John Singer Sargent
was brilliant, glamorous, rich, famous--and very private. Mary F.
Burns' sensuous, fascinating and highly origi-nal novel takes us
behind the veil of that privacy by offering a provocative guided
tour of some of his wealthy, polyglot portrait subjects. Many of
them knew each other, and Burns deftly explores their connections
with one another and their tangled relationship to the magnetic but
enigmatic artist. Glittering surfaces reveal surpris-ing secrets in
bedrooms and galleries, and you couldn't ask for a better docent as
you travel from Paris to Venice to Florence to Nice. You'll likely
never look at Sargent's glorious portraits in the same way again
because Burns has given us a new way of appreciat-ing their
genius."
--Lev Raphael, Rosedale in Love: A Gilded Age Novel
"Portraits of an Artist: A Novel About John Singer Sargent is a
work of historical fiction based on the life of a brilliant yet
troubled artist of the late nineteenth century. A contemporary and
associate of high celebrities such as Henry James, Oscar Wilde,
Edward Burne-Jones, and Sarah Bernhardt, Sargent's meteoric rise to
fame followed by his striking fall from grace, and his retreat to
London, are the tragic un-derpinnings of his unforgettable career.
The stories behind two of his finest paintings, "The Daughters of
Edward Darley Boit" and "Madame X," are also explored in context.
Told in first-person per-spective from the points of view of
numerous individuals who figured prominently in Sargent's life,
"Portraits of an Artist" is an unforgettable reconstruction of a
talented man's search to find meaning in life through art. Highly
recommended."
--The Fiction Shelf of The Midwest Book Review
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