Gondoliers’ Siesta c. 1904

John Singer Sargent made this watercolor, Gondoliers’ Siesta, in Venice at some point during his career. Look at the way he's laid down these washes, so casual and free. It feels like he’s chasing the light and shadows, capturing a fleeting moment. You can almost feel the humidity, right? The buildings are rendered with these quick, transparent layers, letting the white of the paper shine through, while the gondolas and figures are a bit denser, anchoring the scene. I’m drawn to the way the reflections in the water are suggested with just a few strokes, mirroring the forms above but also breaking them apart. See how that gondolier’s hat is really just a dark splotch? Yet it totally reads as a hat! Sargent was a master of this kind of visual shorthand. Think of him in relation to someone like Manet, another artist who knew how to suggest rather than describe. Both artists remind us that art is about seeing and feeling, not just copying what's there.