"The title of the book makes ironic reference to Charles Dickens's famous novel Great Expectations and signals that Sargent's paintings of children are interpreted here in light of the expectations associated with childhood as it was represented in the art and literature of the late nineteenth century - a period then acknowledged as the advent of the "Century of the Child." The investigation traces how Sargent reacted to the contemporary shift in childhood's meaning and used child imagery to advance his professional standing with the public and critics. In turn, this strategy aided in removing child imagery from the grip of Victorian sentiment, elevating it to a higher level in the hierarchy of artistic subject matter." "The book includes five essays by three notable art historians, as well as a Biographical Index of Child Sitters, and is illustrated with a wide array of Sargent's works, including the earliest known oil portrait from his hand (an intimate 1875 portrait of his five-year-old sister) and some of the best-loved paintings of his career. In addition, a wealth of comparative works by his contemporaries is provided along with a selection of Sargent family photographs, some of which are published here for the first time."--BOOK JACKET.