Sargent's unflagging interest in recording effects of sunlight was challenged by the motif of flowing water. Alpine Pool belongs to a series of images in oil and watercolor that Sargent painted in the tiny hamlet of Purtud, in northern Italy. Here, and in the watercolor Brook and Meadow, he adopted a close vantage point and directed his gaze downward to the shimmering water-exploring its transparent and reflective qualities-as well as to the rocks and foliage along the banks. The result is a nearly abstract arrangement of form and color.