Santa Maria della Salute 1906

John Singer Sargent made Santa Maria della Salute in oil, and wow, those whites! They give the painting its punch. You can almost feel him dabbing at the canvas, squinting in the Venetian light, trying to catch the cool shadows playing on the stone. I imagine him there, lugging his easel, a little stressed maybe, trying to get it all down just right. He was probably thinking about all the other painters who’d tried to capture Venice, like Turner, for example. Look how thick the paint is in some places, how thin in others. See the way he drags his brush to suggest those steps leading up to the church? It’s like he’s inviting us in, not just to the building but into his way of seeing. It’s not about getting every detail perfect, but about capturing the feeling, the atmosphere, the light. Painting is this ongoing conversation, right? We’re all talking to each other across time, trying to figure things out, one brushstroke at a time. It's this beautiful, messy, uncertain process.