View in Venice – The Grand Canal

Édouard Manet, a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism, visited the Grand Canal Venice in September 1875 with his friend and fellow painter from outside the Impressionist circle James Tissot, whose works we often feature in DailyArt.

Before the trip in the summer, Manet had spent time painting alongside Claude Monet (who also visited Venice; check out his beautiful Venetian paintings). Monet's works influenced Manet in the way he treated light, colors, and composition. This canvas shares a feeling of effortless spontaneity, but there is evidence that Manet struggled with the picture. Fellow artist Charles Toché recalled watching Manet paint in Venice, noting about another painting created then, “To speak only of Blue Venice, I don’t know how many times Manet started it over again.” Indeed, careful viewers will notice pentimenti of the dome of the church, which was originally higher and to the right before the artist reworked the canvas. Despite the artist’s initial difficulties, this small picture retains the freshness of a quickly painted sketch and displays Manet’s bravura handling of the medium.

P.S. Dear DailyArt users, we have started the pre-sale of our 2023 DailyArt Calendars, which are full of art, beauty, and inspiration! For a limited time they available for -25%.  Check them out; they run out really fast!  :)