Boboli Gardens 1907

John Singer Sargent made "Boboli Gardens" with watercolor on paper, and it’s now hanging at the Brooklyn Museum. Can you imagine him there? Maybe with a little folding stool and a box of paints? The way he painted those statues, they aren't just standing still. They're shimmering with light, alive! Sargent’s got these blobs of color, these blues and browns, all kind of melting together. They make the solid stone dissolve. I love how he doesn't try to get every detail right. He's capturing a feeling, a moment. You know, painting is so amazing because it can trick you. It can turn a flat surface into a whole world. I think Sargent knew that. I think he was in conversation with a long tradition of painting—all those artists who tried to capture the world, not just as it is, but as it feels. We are lucky that he took a moment to share his view with us.