Ilex Wood. Majorca 1908

John Singer Sargent made ‘Ilex Wood, Majorca’ with oil paint, building up the image through layers of brushstrokes, a kind of visual knitting. I can imagine him outside in the brilliant sunshine, trying to capture the way the light filters through the leaves, dappling the wall below. The paint is applied thickly, almost sculpted, in places, giving a real sense of texture. Look how he uses greens of all shades to evoke the lushness of the foliage, punctuated by the browns and ochres of the wall. There’s a gestural energy in each mark. It is the same energy, that I feel, connects painters across the ages. I feel like he’s inviting us to enter into a space of pure sensation, where seeing becomes a form of feeling, and the act of painting becomes a way of knowing.