The Janus Gate: An Encounter with John Singer Sargent (Art Encounters)

by Douglas Rees

Book Overview

Hired to paint a family portrait of four beautiful but mysterious daughters in late 19th century Paris, artist John Singer Sargent enters a world populated by an emotionally unstable mother, a strange... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823004066
• ISBN13: 9780823004065
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 0.7" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

THE JANUS GATE is a very different type of story. Part of the ART ENCOUNTERS series published by Watson-Guptill, it is at times a biographical sketch, a historical treatise, and a Victorian gothic story of the supernatural. THE JANUS GATE is a fictionalized account based on artist John Singer Sargent and, most specifically, his painting entitled The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. In 1882, Sargent painted the Boit daughters - Florence, Jane, Mary, and Julia - along with Julia's very large, very ugly doll, P-Paul, or Popau. Mr. Sargent met the Boit family during Varnishing Day at the Palais d'Industrie in Paris, where he found himself explaining the meaning of a painting entitled The Janus Gate to Edward Boit and his daughters. When the young girls beg to be painted by Mr. Sargent, he eagerly seals the deal; a deal that, later, he will come to regret. If you've never seen a picture of The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, you'll be surprised to learn that it is not a happy painting. The two eldest Boit daughters hide in shadow, one looks angelic yet defiant, and the youngest, with the grotesque doll, beseeches the artist with her large eyes. There has been, and probably always will be, controversy over this portrait done early in John Singer Sargent's career. How can this rightfully be called a portrait when two of the girls aren't even clearly pictured? Why is the doll in the painting at all? What did Mr. Sargent really see when he looked at the Boit girls? There is truth in the saying that life imitates art. Florence and Jane, the two oldest sisters who hid in shadow in their portrait, later went crazy. Popau, Julia's doll, had a major role in leading Mr. Sargent to the brink of his own Janus Gate. Although we'll never know exactly what the artist was thinking while painting this portrait, we can know that it probably wasn't at all pleasant. Douglas Rees has done a marvelous job of bringing art to life with THE JANUS GATE. At once a fictionalized account of a historical event and an eerie Gothic thriller, art history buffs and fans of historical fiction will all enjoy this look into the life of John Singer Sargent. Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Another turn of the screw!

This book certainly is for everyone! It's a brilliant combination of ghostly mystery and paean to the power of art. When I finished it, I didn't know whether to re-read it or start looking for John Singer Sargent prints. In a scant 176 pages Rees has created pictures and voices as indelible as Sangent's paintings. Rather that the stereotyped, cardboard characters of too many mysteries (and young adult books), Rees' characters stand out and remain long after the book is fnished. Each of the Boit girls is a jewel; even the sinister doll Popau is as sharply etched as a Goya drawing. What a wonderful introduction to a too-often-ignored artist.