Very much enjoyed reading more about Emily Sargent, thank you!
As for reading in 2023 I loved rediscovering Phillippa Gregory's Plantagenet novels, especially The Red Queen which is written from the perspective of a really rather horrible woman that you can't help rooting for! Also I finally read Artemisia by Anna Banti which was written in the 1940s about Artemisia Gentileschi, a really fascinating Baroque painter that I'm sure you'll have heard of. It was a really strange and memorable book, with a great backstory woven into the book itself. I'd love to know if anyone else has read it. Keep writing!
I just went and looked up the Anna Banti book--adding to the TBR list. She sounds like she was the right person to write a novel about Artemisia Gentileschi! And looks like it's still in print, with one edition with a foreword from Susan Sontag. Thanks for the reminder about Phillippa Gregory. I haven't read her in a while!
Yes! I have the edition with Sontag's introduction, which is brilliant (of course). The opening of the book is stunning: she, the author, is in a park trying to recover from her house being blown up by the Germans departing Florence in 1944, and the loss of the manuscript of her book about Artemisia. The narrative is her remembering the lost book but somehow the story morphs into direct descriptions of Artemisia's life and then out again as she tries to decide what Artemisia means to her. It's so skillfully done! Let me know what you think of it when and if you get the chance to read it.
Any chance you’d share your Sargent novel? He’s always been a favorite of mine. The MFA exhibit was a highlight of my winter! I would have loved to have you as my guide with all of your insider information! Thank you for sharing about both Sargents in these two posts. I enjoyed every word!
Thank you, Christine! The exhibit was a highlight of my winter too! Re the novel, I need to look at it again and think about it. It's been really lovely hearing from readers who are interested in reading it!
Fascinating - wow, what incredible painters. I adore the colors. Very inspiring.
I'm reading Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See and listening to the audiobook of Cutting for Stone; it has some of the most incredible language I've ever heard and I can't wait to read Covenant of Water next.
Agree about the colors, Amy! Whether in oils or watercolors... Maybe I should go back to Cutting for Stone and try again. I can't remember why I didn't finish it! Will be interested to hear how the two novels compare for you.
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing this intriguing history. I love the early works of John-the street scene with the woman and 2 men and also the three women stirs the imagination and suggest so many stories. His portraits and stunningly beautiful of course but different from these.
I love those paintings too and agree, they suggest so many stories. Interesting to think about what he might have done if he hadn’t had to support himself and his family (his mother and sisters, who weren’t wealthy like most expats of their era).
To be sure! I have never wanted to do commissioned work as it feels too confining. If I had the talent Sargent had, well-maybe. However, observing life around him and painting those scenes is most interesting to me. The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit still catches my heart and does both! Thank you, Sarah.
And thanks for reading the post! Writing about them again has brought back a lot of what I learned when I was working on the novel manuscript, reminding me why I bothered to spend time with them in the first place!
Thank you, Robyn! I love quiet novels too, and novels about artists and writers. Especially late 19th C./early 20th C./Edwardian era artists and writers.
It’s always such a thrill to see an image of a woman painter going at it. Do you know Honor Moore’s The White Blackbird? About her grandmother, another Sargent painter (Margarett). A rollicking informative read.
Thanks, I think so too! I know of Honor Moore's memoirs (she taught at Wesleyan Writers Conference, which I attended years ago) but not this one. And I didn't know about Margarett Sargent, probably a distant cousin--the Sargent ancestors were from Boston and Gloucester, MA. Will go look up the book and Margarett Sargent! Thanks!
Wow, that sounds perfect! And Honor Moore bears a passing resemblance to Stockard Channing. And this is tangential at best, but Stockard Channing was the most delightful narrator for Beverly Cleary's Ramona and Beezus books. My kids loved them...
How talented Emily was. And how strange that Henry James, with his acute sense of character, would call the portrait of the Boit sisters “cozy.” I find it brimful of loneliness. I recommend Erica Hirshler’s biography of the painting and see that it has also inspired a novel, which I haven’t read.
Isn't it strange? I'll have to go look and see whether James wrote that as part of a larger review (he wrote a big feature, maybe for the Atlantic, about Sargent before they knew each other), or in some other form.
Forgot to reply about Erica Hirshler--she's wonderful, I've heard her talk at the MFA a couple of times. And I didn't know about the novel; looks like it's a YA time-travel novel. Thanks for pointing it out!
Very much enjoyed reading more about Emily Sargent, thank you!
As for reading in 2023 I loved rediscovering Phillippa Gregory's Plantagenet novels, especially The Red Queen which is written from the perspective of a really rather horrible woman that you can't help rooting for! Also I finally read Artemisia by Anna Banti which was written in the 1940s about Artemisia Gentileschi, a really fascinating Baroque painter that I'm sure you'll have heard of. It was a really strange and memorable book, with a great backstory woven into the book itself. I'd love to know if anyone else has read it. Keep writing!
I just went and looked up the Anna Banti book--adding to the TBR list. She sounds like she was the right person to write a novel about Artemisia Gentileschi! And looks like it's still in print, with one edition with a foreword from Susan Sontag. Thanks for the reminder about Phillippa Gregory. I haven't read her in a while!
Yes! I have the edition with Sontag's introduction, which is brilliant (of course). The opening of the book is stunning: she, the author, is in a park trying to recover from her house being blown up by the Germans departing Florence in 1944, and the loss of the manuscript of her book about Artemisia. The narrative is her remembering the lost book but somehow the story morphs into direct descriptions of Artemisia's life and then out again as she tries to decide what Artemisia means to her. It's so skillfully done! Let me know what you think of it when and if you get the chance to read it.
Any chance you’d share your Sargent novel? He’s always been a favorite of mine. The MFA exhibit was a highlight of my winter! I would have loved to have you as my guide with all of your insider information! Thank you for sharing about both Sargents in these two posts. I enjoyed every word!
Thank you, Christine! The exhibit was a highlight of my winter too! Re the novel, I need to look at it again and think about it. It's been really lovely hearing from readers who are interested in reading it!
Fascinating - wow, what incredible painters. I adore the colors. Very inspiring.
I'm reading Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See and listening to the audiobook of Cutting for Stone; it has some of the most incredible language I've ever heard and I can't wait to read Covenant of Water next.
Agree about the colors, Amy! Whether in oils or watercolors... Maybe I should go back to Cutting for Stone and try again. I can't remember why I didn't finish it! Will be interested to hear how the two novels compare for you.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading these - thank you! Please do more like this
Thank you, Katherine! That means a lot!
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing this intriguing history. I love the early works of John-the street scene with the woman and 2 men and also the three women stirs the imagination and suggest so many stories. His portraits and stunningly beautiful of course but different from these.
I love those paintings too and agree, they suggest so many stories. Interesting to think about what he might have done if he hadn’t had to support himself and his family (his mother and sisters, who weren’t wealthy like most expats of their era).
To be sure! I have never wanted to do commissioned work as it feels too confining. If I had the talent Sargent had, well-maybe. However, observing life around him and painting those scenes is most interesting to me. The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit still catches my heart and does both! Thank you, Sarah.
Agree with you about those scenes. I think Daughters merges compose portrait and observational sketch--it’s an incredible picture.
Another beautiful book about a sister to a famous artist--Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar about Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf.
Loved this account of the Sargents.
How could I have forgotten that one? I loved that book and have been intending to reread. Thanks for the reminder!
And thanks for reading the post! Writing about them again has brought back a lot of what I learned when I was working on the novel manuscript, reminding me why I bothered to spend time with them in the first place!
Well, I love quiet novels. I would have loved to read it. Novels about artists and writers is my sweet spot.
Thank you, Robyn! I love quiet novels too, and novels about artists and writers. Especially late 19th C./early 20th C./Edwardian era artists and writers.
It’s always such a thrill to see an image of a woman painter going at it. Do you know Honor Moore’s The White Blackbird? About her grandmother, another Sargent painter (Margarett). A rollicking informative read.
Thanks, I think so too! I know of Honor Moore's memoirs (she taught at Wesleyan Writers Conference, which I attended years ago) but not this one. And I didn't know about Margarett Sargent, probably a distant cousin--the Sargent ancestors were from Boston and Gloucester, MA. Will go look up the book and Margarett Sargent! Thanks!
The audiobook is read by Stockard Channing!
Wow, that sounds perfect! And Honor Moore bears a passing resemblance to Stockard Channing. And this is tangential at best, but Stockard Channing was the most delightful narrator for Beverly Cleary's Ramona and Beezus books. My kids loved them...
Our son loved them, too. I believe Honor knows Stockard from Vassar
Oh, that makes sense. Small world!
How talented Emily was. And how strange that Henry James, with his acute sense of character, would call the portrait of the Boit sisters “cozy.” I find it brimful of loneliness. I recommend Erica Hirshler’s biography of the painting and see that it has also inspired a novel, which I haven’t read.
Isn't it strange? I'll have to go look and see whether James wrote that as part of a larger review (he wrote a big feature, maybe for the Atlantic, about Sargent before they knew each other), or in some other form.
Forgot to reply about Erica Hirshler--she's wonderful, I've heard her talk at the MFA a couple of times. And I didn't know about the novel; looks like it's a YA time-travel novel. Thanks for pointing it out!
As always, I learn so much by reading your blog. Sending you warm thoughts on this cold winter morning.
Thank you, Kris! Warm thoughts back to you! Very cold here too: 10 degrees, but weather app says it feels like 1 degree.
The title itself.. slightly offensive to some. I would be as a woman!