Landscape with Figures, 1904 (from Sketchbook0 1904

Mary Newbold Sargent made this watercolor landscape with figures around 1904, probably en plein air, maybe on vacation or a day trip. The brushstrokes are so light, it's as if she barely touched the paper, letting the water do most of the work. I imagine her, squinting in the sun, rapidly capturing the scene before the light changed. There's a wonderful sense of immediacy here, a feeling of being present in that moment with her. The figures on the right feel like an afterthought, or perhaps the entire landscape has been built around them – who knows? I'm reminded of other landscape painters, like John Constable, who saw painting as a way of understanding the natural world, not just representing it. Sargent seems to be in a similar conversation, exploring the nuances of light, space, and atmosphere with each stroke. Painting, after all, is a form of embodied expression, capturing not only what we see but also how we feel and experience the world.