Synopses & Reviews
Renowned for her majestic beauty and impassioned performances, the English actress Sarah Siddons (1755-1831) revolutionized the aesthetics of eighteenth-century theater while inventing a complex public persona to promote her fame. Her flair for self-presentation was matched by the showmanship of the many artists who portrayed her.
Here three lively essays--by Robyn Asleson, Shelley Bennett, Mark Leonard, and Shearer West--explore Siddons's life and career, as well as her relationships with a number of artists. Notable among them was Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose masterpiece Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse became an icon of this great actress at the peak of her career. This lavish volume also brings together fifty-five other portraits of Siddons including works by Thomas Gainsborough, George Romney, Thomas Lawrence, and Gilbert Stuart.
Synopsis
A Passion for Performance features three lively essays--by Robyn Asleson, Shelley Bennett, Mark Leonard, and Shearer West--that explore the life and career of the English actress Sarah Siddons (1755-1831), who was renowned for her majestic beauty and impassioned performances. This lavish volume also illuminates her relationships with a number of artists who portrayed her, bringing together fifty-six portraits of Siddons including works by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, George Romney, Thomas Lawrence, and Gilbert Stuart, along with a chronology of the actress' life.