John Singer Sargent: Painting Friends features a fascinating selection of over forty of the artist's portraits of his circle of associates - artists, writers, actors and musicians, many of whom he knew well. In contrast to his well-known society portraits, these works were rarely the result of commissions, and so are often more informal and radical in style. Beautifully reproduced here, the selection includes portraits from major international public and private collections, along with extended captions that provide additional insight into Sargent's life and work. Featuring an introductory essay by Barbara Dayer Gallati, Curator Emerita of American Art at the Brooklyn Musuem, and an illustrated chronology that places Sargent's work and sitters in the context of the artistic and cultural events of the time, this book is the perfect introduction to Sargent's portraiture.