The Salute, Venice c. 1904 - 1907

John Singer Sargent made "The Salute, Venice" in watercolor, and it’s like he’s painting with light itself. The way he approaches the architecture, it's all about the process of seeing, of capturing a fleeting moment. Look at how the washes of color pool and blend, creating these luminous surfaces. The paint is thin, transparent, allowing the white of the paper to glow through, which gives the whole scene this airy, ethereal quality. You can almost feel the sun on the stone. Notice the columns on the lower left corner and how they softly dissolve into shadow, the fluid strokes suggesting form without defining it too rigidly. This reminds me a little bit of Turner, in the way he uses light and atmosphere to evoke a sense of place. Art is just an ongoing conversation, right? A way of seeing that evolves over time, with each artist adding their own voice to the mix.