Ilex Wood. Majorca 1908

John Singer Sargent made Ilex Wood, Majorca, with paint, probably oils. Look at that green, it’s not trying to be a realistic representation, but it is so full of life, it kind of pops. Sargent's touch is so immediate here. You can see the strokes, the loaded brush, the way he’s smearing and dabbing the paint. It’s almost like he’s saying, "Here’s paint, here’s what paint can do, look at these little green dashes creating a feeling of depth and texture." There’s a tension between representation and pure abstraction, the way those marks build up to suggest leaves and branches. It’s like he's building a world, not just describing one. It reminds me a little of Courbet, that love of the material, the way the paint itself becomes the subject. A conversation across time.