The Great Fountain of Bologna 1906

John Singer Sargent made this watercolour titled ‘The Great Fountain of Bologna,’ and what grabs me is the looseness, the way the washes pull and pool on the page. It feels so immediate, like he’s just chasing the light as it bounces off the stone. Look at the base of the fountain: see how the shadows are built up with layer upon layer of translucent colour. The way the browns bleed into blues, suggesting depth and form without ever quite defining it. The architecture, with its complex play of light and shadow, feels like it’s emerging right before your eyes, a testament to the fleeting beauty of a particular moment in time. Sargent reminds me of someone like Cy Twombly, in his ability to capture the essence of a subject with such minimal means. It’s this idea that art is an ongoing conversation, a continuous exploration of seeing and feeling. There’s no right or wrong way to experience it, just an invitation to look closer, to feel deeper, and to embrace the ambiguity that makes it all so interesting.