Simplon Pass Chalets 1911

John Singer Sargent made this watercolour painting of chalets high in the Swiss Alps using fluid washes and bold, wet-on-wet techniques. Watercolour for me is all about embracing the unpredictable nature of the medium, letting the pigment bleed and flow. I think Sargent felt the same. Look at the way he's captured the light on those snowy rocks, using delicate blues and grays that blend seamlessly into the ochre of the mountain grass. The paint is thin and transparent, allowing the white of the paper to shine through, which creates a luminous quality. There's a gestural energy here, especially in the sky, where the clouds swirl with an almost calligraphic freedom. Sargent's work reminds me of another watercolourist, Emil Nolde. Like Nolde, Sargent had this knack for capturing a sense of place with just a few well-placed strokes, suggesting the vastness and the drama of the natural world. Art isn't about perfect representation, it's about capturing a feeling, a mood, a fleeting moment in time.