Cleveland Museum of Art

The Doge's Palace, Venice

Date

1826

Medium

oil on millboard

Culture

England, 19th century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

At the age of 22, Bonington achieved overnight success at the official (state sponsored) Paris exhibition known as Salon. Two years later, in 1826, he journeyed to Venice, a city that had long attracted landscape artists. At first, constant rain greatly depressed Bonington, but suddenly the weather changed and Venice was at its glorious best. Bonington frequently painted outdoors, capturing immediate impressions of Venetian architecture and sunlight. He made this particular study from a boat anchored in the lagoon near the Doge's Palace. The thick swirls of paint, with colors mixed together while still wet, indicates how rapidly the artist worked. At age seventeen, Bonington began teaching precision drawing at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and he was essential to bringing aspects of the English style to France.

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