John Singer Sargent Catalogue Raisonné



John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
detail Madame X, 1883-4
oil on canvas 82 1/8" x 43 1/4"
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 16.53

John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, The Complete Paintings: Volume l, by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray in collaboration with Warren Adelson and Elizabeth Oustinoff has recently been released by Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
The result of decades of scholarly research, Volume l catalogues Sargent's formal and informal portraits in oil and watercolor from 1874 through 1889. It is the first in the series of volumes of the definitive catalogue raisonné of the works of one of the most acclaimed artists of the nineteenth century. Volume ll (portraits through 1925) will follow in 1999. The remaining three volumes of landscapes, subject pictures and murals, containing roughly 1600 illustrations of oils and watercolors will be published in subsequent years.

The History of the Catalogue Raisonné Project
The compilation of the John Singer Sargent Catalogue Raisonné began with David McKibbin (librarian at the Boston Athenaeum) whose goal was to produce a comprehensive series of volumes, fully illustrated and informed by scholarly entries. Mr. McKibbin laid the groundwork for the formidable task of locating and cataloguing virtually every oil and watercolor that Sargent painted.

The Catalogue Raisonné continues today under the sponsorship of Adelson Galleries, New York. At present, the members of the Catalogue Raisonné committee are: Warren Adelson, Richard Ormond, Elaine Kilmurray and Elizabeth Oustinoff. The project is directed by Richard L. Ormond, a grand-nephew of Sargent and author of a major monograph on the artist (Phaidon 1970). Mr. Ormond is currently the Director of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England. The catalogue research is directed by Elaine Kilmurray, formerly of the National Portrait Gallery, London. Support and research in the United States is provided by Warren Adelson and Elizabeth Oustinoff at Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York.

The Catalogue Raisonné is a work in progress and is actively gathering scholarly material and photography on the artist. Enquiries can be made to:
Warren Adelson or Elizabeth Oustinoff
Adelson Galleries
The Mark Hotel
25 East 77th Street
New York, NY 10021
Telephone: (212) 439-6800
Fax: (212) 349-6870
E-Mail: eo@adelsongalleries.com