Bather, Florida 1917

John Singer Sargent made this watercolor, "Bather, Florida," and right away, I'm drawn to how he uses the medium. It's all washes, bleeding edges, like he's letting the water do some of the work. You can feel the heat, the laziness of a day by the ocean. Look at the way the colors pool and mix, especially where the figure meets the sand. It's not about perfect representation; it's about capturing a feeling. The blue strokes above the figure, suggesting sky or water, are so direct and unblended, they could almost be a Cy Twombly. And that's what makes it so compelling: the sense of immediacy, the artist responding to the moment, not trying to control every detail. It's like a conversation, a back-and-forth between the artist, the water, and the pigment.