Walter Launt Palmer (American, 1854-1932) painted a similar view of Santa Maria della Salute in the daylight and moonlight.
While visiting Venice in the 1890s, he painted this view on a sunny day, with warm white and orange sails reflecting in the still water, and the alabaster domes gleaming behind.
He painted the same Venetian landmark by moonlight, with a cool palette and a minimal amount of detail.
Both paintings are included in an exhibit called "Unmasking Venice: American Artists and the City of Water," now on view at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY through September 5.
2 comments:
Wow I love this!I just got back from visiting 9 art museums in CT, RI, MA and PA…I didn’t know about Fenimore or I would have tried to fit it in, looks like a fabulous show!
I did get to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT, and was especially interested in the moonlight paintings… I searched your site and didn't find anything on this museum, if you haven’t been there I think you would love it. You might already know that she ran a summer boarding house for artists, mostly who came up from NYC. Wm Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf and others spent time there. It is where Metcalf painted the famous moonlit painting that launched his career, “May Night”, which depicts Florence’s house and is now in the collection of the NGA (formerly a museum purchase by the Corcoran.) I learned there that Frank DuMond was teaching the resident artists about moonlight/nocturne painting one summer, and then there was a flurry of them being painted-- there were a few on display, including a lovely one by Matilda Browne.
The museum has several rooms of framed paintings, but the coolest part is the paintings on the doors - apparently it was Metcalf who had the idea to gift “Miss Florence” by painting a mini masterpiece on the flat inserts of one of the doors, and I guess it turned into a competition -- then, when they ran out of doors, they started on the other wood portions of the building!
It was a great museum, I didn't have enough time the first time I visited, so I went back a couple of days later... highly recommended! (And they have lovely grounds for plein air painting, and a nice outdoor cafe with a view of the river!)
Thanks for the tip, MerylAnn. I've been to that museum twice, but it has been more than 10 years, so I'll have go again.
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