Villa Torlonia, Frascati 1907

John Singer Sargent made Villa Torlonia, Frascati with watercolor, and it’s all about the immediacy of the medium. The way the colors blend and bleed together, it’s clear he wasn’t trying to create a perfect representation, more about capturing a mood. I love the juicy quality of this painting, the way the water seems to cascade right off the page! It's like he's playing with gravity itself. Look at the colors around the architectural details, soft browns and grays that contrast with the vibrant blues and yellows in the fountain. The paint is thin and transparent, allowing the white of the paper to shine through, which gives the whole scene a luminous quality. Notice how the brushstrokes are loose and gestural, especially in the foliage. It’s as if he’s inviting us to feel the dampness of the air and the cool spray of the water. Sargent’s work reminds me of someone like Winslow Homer, another master of watercolor, both capturing the fleeting beauty of the natural world with such ease and confidence. It shows you that art is just a conversation through time.