Island and Coast, 1904 (from Sketchbook) 1904

Mary Newbold Sargent made this evocative landscape in 1904 with watercolor, as part of a sketchbook. The washes of colour are applied so freely and openly, it feels like she's feeling her way through the landscape, using each stroke to explore what might be there. I’m struck by the contrast between the defined and the undefined, between the density of colour in the foreground and the hazy mountain range in the background. It feels like memory, the foreground so clear and distinct, the background fading into the past. I love the small details here; the slight drip marks left by the watercolor paint. There is a real sense of freedom and experimentation here; Sargent is allowing the medium to lead her. Winslow Homer, another great American watercolourist, also had a way of capturing light and atmosphere with what seems like a bare minimum of marks. Art is nothing if not a conversation between artists, across time and place, about how we see and feel the world.