Atlas and the Hesperides 1925

John Singer Sargent made this painting of Atlas and the Hesperides, in Boston, at the Museum of Fine Arts. What I see here is the weight of the world, literally, on Atlas’s shoulders. The paint isn't thick like Auerbach, but creamy. It almost feels like it's breathing, moving. The weight is so heavy that the group of women below are asleep, maybe dreaming. What was Sargent thinking when he put this together? I want to know. The whole surface is activated, and the gold light feels very considered, like it had to pass a test to be let in. It reminds me a bit of the way El Greco would make his figures glow from within. It's about more than just depicting a story, right? It's about finding a way to make paint communicate feeling, intention, and meaning. That's what keeps me going back to painting.