Studies for ‘Astronomy’ c. 1921

John Singer Sargent made these studies for ‘Astronomy’ with graphite on paper, and you can see the way he's working through different ideas, a real sense of artmaking as a process. The texture is all about the paper here, that warm ground, and the graphite marks laid on top, creating a subtle, silvery sheen. The strokes are so clear, you can almost feel Sargent’s hand moving across the page, deciding how the drapery falls and folds. Look at how he’s using those dark, smudgy lines to define the form within the circle, like a spotlight on her face. These studies remind me of other artists like Vuillard, who capture that feeling of capturing a thought mid-flight. In the end, art is always a conversation, full of echoes and whispers. We get to join in, bringing our own questions and ideas to the table.