Art report: Watercolors by John Singer Sargent
Art report: Watercolors by John Singer Sargent Last night, I saw the John Singer Sargent watercolors exhibit at the MFA. Wow. Painting with watercolors is something like trying to sign a check with a wet mop. It’s amazing if it can be done at all, never mind done superbly, as he does. I knew Sargent mostly from his portraits, of course. Some beautiful painting there, but what always impressed me was seeing a real human being looking back at me out of the canvas. (One of my favorites: "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit", http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/The_Daughters_of_Edward_Darley_Boit,_John_Singer_Sargent,_1882_(unfree_frame_crop).jpg ) But I had no idea the guy could paint like this. When I entered the first gallery – scenes of the canals of Venice – my jaw literally dropped. “These are *watercolors*?” I asked myself, thinking maybe they were actually oil paintings tossed in to soften us up. Then I read the description card: watercolor. I lean