The Dead Sea 1905

John Singer Sargent made this oil painting of the Dead Sea, sometime in his career. I just love the way the landscape has been blocked in, in these warm, sandy colors. The brushstrokes seem so fast, like he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment, a memory of a view. Sargent is really working with this contrast between the cool blues of the sea and the sky, and those sun-baked earth tones in the foreground. I can almost feel the dry heat radiating off the canvas. I like to think about what it might have been like for Sargent to stand there, squinting in the sun, trying to translate this vast landscape onto a small piece of canvas. He’s not just painting what he sees, but also what he feels, and I can feel it too. It makes me want to grab my brushes and head outside!