Nancy Astor 1906

John Singer Sargent painted Nancy Astor, and it’s a masterclass in how to mix formal portraiture with a real sense of immediacy. What strikes me first is the way he uses light and dark to create drama. There's this dark background, almost like a void, which makes Nancy Astor's figure pop. The paint handling looks so free, especially in the dress. You can almost see the brushstrokes dancing around. And the way the fabric is rendered, it’s like he's capturing a moment in time, not just a static pose. Look at the area around her hands, see how the pinks melt into the white of the dress? It's so soft and fluid, it feels like the paint is still wet. Sargent was a big admirer of Velázquez, and you can see that influence in the way he handles the paint – confident, direct, and not afraid to leave things a little rough around the edges. It's this tension between the finished and unfinished that keeps it so alive. It embraces ambiguity, and I love that.