The Desert from Jerusalem

By the early 1900s John Singer Sargent's dissatisfaction with portraiture led him to focus increasingly on his watercolor skills. This interest paired perfectly with his penchant for travel. Watercolors could be transported with relative ease, and the luminous pigments allowed him to capture quick impressions of light and color.

In 1905 Sargent made his second trip to the Middle East. In The Desert from Jerusalem, he responded to the rhythms of the landscape, painting the dunes with gestural strokes as if they were ocean waves. He masterfully modeled the sky and undulating sands through expressive colors applied in greatly varying thicknesses. The blue wash of the sky stains the paper while thicker strokes of gouache create highlights in the foreground.