A Bridge and Campanile, Venice 1902 - 1904

John Singer Sargent gave us this fleeting glimpse of Venice with watercolor on paper. I love how he’s captured the way light bounces off the water, those quick, wet-on-wet washes that bleed and blend, creating a sense of shimmering movement. Look at the way the buildings rise from the water, layer upon layer, in soft grays, pinks, and blues. He teases out so much form with so little! There’s a kind of visual shorthand going on, like he's just hinting at the details and letting our eyes fill in the blanks. See that gondola in the foreground? The dark strokes defining its shape almost dissolve into the reflections below. Sargent's approach reminds me of Turner's atmospheric landscapes, but with a lighter, more spontaneous touch. It’s like he’s saying, “Here’s Venice, but it’s also just paint, just an impression.” And that’s the beauty of it – that tension between representation and abstraction, the real and the imagined.