“Watercolour was ideal for his purposes, depending on speed and conveniently portable, and though he was not new to the medium he began to use it increasingly from around the turn of the century. For Sargent, watercolour suited his shorthand… Watercolour afforded Sargent the means to refine and simplify his vocabulary. He was able to explore immediate responses, free of detailed analysis. Watercolour gave him a splendid modification of his technique, thus enabling him to capture white oxen in the blazing Italian sun while waiting for a train. And watercolours became his favorite gifts. He doled them out for wedding presents, birthdays, Christmas and a general expression of greeting. They were, in many ways, his style of postcard.”
— From John Singer Sargent: His Portrait (1986) by Stanley Olson
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