Treetops against Sky 1909 - 1913

John Singer Sargent made this watercolour, Treetops against Sky, with an incredible looseness, as if he was more interested in the act of painting than in making a faithful representation of the trees. It's all in the process, you know? Look at how he handles the blue. It's not just sky; it bleeds into the leaves, creating a sense of light filtering through the branches. The washes are so fluid, they seem to breathe. Notice that one dark, almost black, stroke that defines a branch reaching out. It's so simple, so direct, yet it anchors the whole composition. Sargent wasn't afraid to let the paint do its thing, to embrace the accidents and surprises that watercolour offers. This reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter’s landscape paintings, where the image seems to emerge from a haze of colour, as if memory itself is being painted. It’s a beautiful reminder that art is not about perfection, but about exploration and discovery.