Study for ‘Death and Victory’ 1921 - 1922

This study for ‘Death and Victory’ is by John Singer Sargent, though we don’t know exactly when he made it or with what. I can almost feel him working here – dipping his brush in water, letting the colours flow and bleed. The whole thing has this ethereal, otherworldly feel, right? You can imagine him, standing back, squinting, adding a dab of colour here, a stroke there, trying to capture something so fleeting and powerful. I imagine he was really moved by the tragic cost of war, so many lives cut short, which has been the inspiration for countless artists. The angel, with its outstretched arm holding aloft the golden palm, feels like a direct response to those horrors. It's a gesture of hope, maybe? It suggests there’s something beyond the battlefield, some kind of redemption. It’s like Sargent is having a conversation with other painters, reaching across time to share and build on these big themes that never go away.