Under The Willows
John Singer Sargent, famous for his stiff formal portraits, let loose with this breezy watercolor of two figures relaxing under a massive tree. You can see the graphite sketch lines peeking through the loose washes of green and brown, giving it a wonderful sense of immediacy. The handwritten note at the bottom right, 'Show as much as you can,' adds a mysterious touch—perhaps an instruction to a framer about how much of the paper to reveal? It captures a quiet, sun-dappled moment of leisure, far removed from the high society sittings he was paid to paint.
- Technique
- Watercolor and graphite
- Material
- Paper