Ena Wertheimer with Antonio Mancini 1904

This watercolour was dashed off by John Singer Sargent, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century. It's called "Ena Wertheimer with Antonio Mancini," and I can tell you, it’s really about watercolour, that fluid dance between intention and accident. Look at how Sargent teases the paper with strokes of blues and greens, suggesting foliage, figures. His brushstrokes almost dissolve into each other, creating these ephemeral forms. I'm drawn to how the light filters through the leaves, captured in those little spots of untouched white paper – a brilliant, painterly move that keeps the image alive, breathing. Sargent's touch reminds me a little of someone like Manet, in the way he uses these loose, evocative gestures, but with a breeziness all his own. Ultimately, this image is a study in perception, where the artist invites us to complete the picture, to find the figures within the fluid strokes of paint.