Miss Mathilde Townsend 1907

John Singer Sargent made this portrait of Miss Mathilde Townsend with oil on canvas, and it's all about the swoosh! Sargent’s brushwork feels so free, like he’s composing with light and air as much as with paint. Look at the way he renders the pink sash, it’s almost sculptural in its thickness, yet it dissolves into wisps of color, like a dream. You can almost feel the silkiness of the sash and the softness of her hair. It's like Sargent is saying, "I'm not just painting a person, I'm painting the feeling of a person, the feeling of a moment." That sky behind her is pure suggestion, clouds built from smears and daubs. It reminds me a little of Whistler, who also had a knack for capturing fleeting moments of beauty with a few well-placed strokes. Art is never really about perfection, it's about embracing the mess, the fluidity, and the endless possibilities of the medium.