Two Figures in a Landscape 1987

Edwin Austin Abbey made this watercolour sketch, Two Figures in a Landscape, and what I love about it is its softness. The colours seem to blend and bleed together, so the whole image shimmers like a memory. The figures, especially, are gently rendered. Take the figure on the left: look at the broad strokes of yellow that suggest a knitted sweater, and the way the brown wash creates a kind of soft focus effect around the legs. Abbey’s brushwork is direct and unblended, giving the impression of a quickly captured scene. This speed is perfect for watercolour. It's like catching a feeling before it fades. I think of John Singer Sargent’s landscapes: both artists have this knack for distilling a scene down to its most essential qualities. What is compelling is not the perfect rendering of the figures, but how the scene embraces ambiguity. It feels like a dream.