From Ávila c. 1903

John Singer Sargent made this watercolour, From Ávila, with broad, fluid washes that really capture the light of the landscape. You can see the hand of the artist in every stroke, the way the brush dances across the paper, picking up more or less pigment to create depth and shadow. I love how the colors blend and bleed into each other, creating a sense of atmosphere. The soft purples and yellows of the sky contrast beautifully with the warmer tones of the earth. The small dabs of green and grey in the foreground add just enough detail to ground the composition. If you look closely, you can see the texture of the paper coming through the paint, which gives the work a sense of immediacy and intimacy. Sargent’s alla prima approach reminds me of some of the plein air painters of the time. Like them, he lets the painting evolve naturally. There’s a sense of risk-taking and improvisation that feels very modern.