Alberto Falchetti 1905

John Singer Sargent made this portrait of Alberto Falchetti with oil on canvas, and it's just this side of life-size. I'm always interested in how an artist uses colour to build up form, and here, we see Sargent has gone for a fairly limited palette of earthy browns and blacks. You can tell he's figuring things out as he goes along. Up close, the brushwork is incredible; look at how the black of his coat has been applied with these energetic strokes that give it real texture. And notice that single spot of white just catching the light on his eye, bringing this guy to life. When I look at this, I am reminded of other portrait painters like Manet who were equally interested in capturing the essence of a person through loose brushstrokes and tonal colours. It reminds me that art is always an act of conversation, a dialogue between artists across time. It's a painting that invites you to linger, to contemplate, and to find your own meaning within its depths.