John Singer Sargent 1856-1925
“This water-colour is similar in viewpoint and format to Corner of the Libreria, Venice, but painted farther back from the Molo, looking north-north-east. A single bay of the Libreria is seen on the left, the column of St Theodore just right of centre, followed by St Mark’s in the distance and the extreme end of the Doge’s Palace on the far right. The Piazzetta is filled with various structures, possibly stalls, which partially obscure the clock tower at the end of the vista. The foreground, with gondolas and olive-green water, reads darkly against the white Libreria and the pale blue column of St Theodore, reflecting light from the sky. The golden brown dome of St Mark’s suggests late afternoon as the time of day. Sargent used splashes of pale blue impasto to accentuate details to the right of the library at ground-floor level” (R. Ormond and E. Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: Venetian Figures and Landscapes 1898-1913, Vol VI, 2009, p. 98).
Alternate Titles: Venice; A View in Venice; Venice, The Libreria
Provenance
The artist;
Philip Wilson Steer (gift from the above);
Christie’s, London, July 16-17, 1942, lot 343, bt. Ronald Gray;
Colonel W. R. Hornby Steer (nephew of P. Steer);
Sotheby’s, London, June 30, 1993, lot 16, bt. Adelson Galleries, New York;
Private collection, New York;
Adelson Galleries, New York, 2000;
Private collection, 2010 (acquired from the above);
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2017
Exhibitions
London, Carfax & Co., Loan Exhibition of Water Colours by John S. Sargent, R.A., April 1905, no. 37 (as The Piazzetta No. 2).
London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Twenty Years of British Art (1890-1910), May 10–June 19, 1910, no. 59 (as Venice).
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of the Works by the Late John S. Sargent, January 14–March 13, 1926, no. 122, p. 23 (as Venice).
London, National Gallery, British Paintings since Whistler, 1940, no. 228 (as Venice).
New York, Adelson Galleries, Sargent’s Venice, January 15–March 3, 2007, fig. 104, p. 109, illustrated in color (as Venice, The Libreria); (in Italian pubication) p. 84, illustrated in color p. 73 (as Venice, The Libreria) [Traveled: Venice, Correr Museum, Sargent and Venice, 24 March-22 July 2007].
New York, Michael Altman Fine Art & Advisory Services, John Singer Sargent, October 24–December 6, 2013, no. 11.
Literature
Exhibition Catalogue: London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of the Works by the Late John S. Sargent, 1926, no. 122, p. 23 (as Venice).
Exhibition Catalogue: New York, Adelson Galleries, Sargent's Venice, 2007, fig. 104, p. 109, illustrated in color (as Venice, The Libreria); (in Italian pubication) p. 84, illustrated in color p. 73 (as Venice, The Libreria).
R. Ormond and E. Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: Venetian Figures and Landscapes 1898- 1913, vol VI, New Haven, Connecticut, 2009, no. 1053, illustrated in color p. 198.
Exhibition Catalogue: New York, Michael Altman Fine Art & Advisory Services, John Singer Sargent, 2013, no. 11.