05 Paintings of the Canals of Venice by the artists of their time, with foot notes. #13

David Roberts, R.A., EDINBURGH 1796 - 1864 LONDON
VENICE, APPROACH TO THE GRAND CANAL, c. 1855
Oil on canvas
25 1/2  by 45 1/2  in.; 64.8 by 115.6 cm.
Private Collection

David Roberts RA (b Stockbridge [now a district of Edinburgh], 24 Oct. 1796; d London, 25 Nov. 1864). Scottish painter. He was apprenticed to a house painter, then worked as a scene painter for theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1822 he settled in London and worked at the Drury Lane Theatre with his friend Clarkson Stanfield. From 1833 he travelled widely in Europe and the Mediterranean basin and made a fortune with his topographical views.

He worked in oil and watercolour and published lavishly illustrated books, among them the six-volume Views in the Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia (1842–9). His work can be monotonous when seen en masse, but at his best he combines bold design with precise observation. More David Roberts

John Singer Sargent, (American, born Italy, 1856-1925)
Santa Maria della Salute, c. 1904
Translucent and opaque watercolor and graphite, with graphite underdrawing
18 3/16 x 22 15/16in. (46.2 x 58.3cm)
Brooklyn Museum

Sargent’s underdrawing for the church is meticulously executed in straight ruled graphite lines, whose end points are visible at the bottoms and tops of columns. Horizontal ruled lines of the stairs are visible through the washes of the figures in the boat. In contrast, the boats and figures in the foreground have minimal underdrawing and are rendered in loose, mostly wet washes. Sargent used a sharp tool to scrape off paint and create the squiggly highlights on and around the boats. This is the largest Sargent watercolor in Brooklyn’s collection. More on this painting

Santa Maria della Salute, commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy.

It stands on the narrow finger of Punta della Dogana, between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, at the Bacino di San Marco, making the church visible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. The Salute is part of the parish of the Gesuati and is the most recent of the so-called plague-churches.

The dome of the Salute was an important addition to the Venice skyline and soon became emblematic of the city, inspiring artists like Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, John Singer Sargent, and Francesco Guardi. More on Santa Maria della Salute

John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.

His parents were American, but he was trained in Paris prior to moving to London. Sargent enjoyed international acclaim as a portrait painter, although not without controversy and some critical reservation; an early submission to the Paris Salon, his "Portrait of Madame X", was intended to consolidate his position as a society painter, but it resulted in scandal instead. From the beginning his work was characterized by remarkable technical facility, particularly in his ability to draw with a brush, which in later years inspired admiration as well as criticism for a supposed superficiality. His commissioned works were consistent with the grand manner of portraiture, while his informal studies and landscape paintings displayed a familiarity with Impressionism. In later life Sargent expressed ambivalence about the restrictions of formal portrait work, and devoted much of his energy to mural painting and working en plein air. He lived most of his life in Europe. More John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent, (American, born Italy, 1856-1925)
Venice in Grey Weather,  c.1880 - c.1882
Oil, canvas
50.8 x 68.6 cm
Private Collection

John Singer Sargent, (American, born Italy, 1856-1925), see above

Thomas Bush Hardy, 1842 - 1897
Boats in Venice
Watercolor
26 x 20 cm.
Private collection

Thomas Bush Hardy (1842, Sheffield – 1897, Maida Vale, London) was a British marine painter and watercolourist. As a young man he travelled in the Netherlands and Italy. In 1884 Hardy was elected a Member of the Royal Society of British Artists. He exhibited with the Society and also at the Royal Academy.
His paintings feature coastal scenes in England and the Netherlands, the French Channel ports and the Venetian Lagoon.


Hardy had nine children. His son Dudley Hardy was a painter, illustrator and poster designer. His daughter Dorothy received an MBE after working as a nurse in the First World War. He died on 15 December 1897 in Maida Vale, London. More on Thomas Bush Hardy

Jacques-Louis-Jules David, 1829-1886, FRENCH 
VENITIAN AT HER TOILET, c. 1860
Oil on canvas
148 by 96cm., 58¼ by 37¾in.
Private collection


Jacques-Louis-Jules David, 1829-1886, was the grandson of the immensely influential neo-classical Jacques-Louis David. Additionally, Jules David was an art historian in his own right, and among his grandfather's first biographers. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1849 where he studied with Cogniet and Picot. More on Jacques-Louis-Jules David






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05 Paintings of the Canals of Venice by the artists of their time, with foot notes. #12

Antoine Bouvard, (French, 1870-1956)
Venetian gondolier and canal bridge
Oil on canvas 
50.5 x 66cm (19 7/8 x 26in)
Private collection

Antoine Bouvard, St. Jean-de-Bournay, 1870 - 1956 was a French landscape painter. He studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Constant-Dufeus and became director of a. government agency of architecture. In his paintings he specialized in views of Venice. More on Antoine Bouvard

Antoine Bouvard, (French, 1870-1956)
Venetian bridge with gondola
Oil on canvas 
65 x 50.5cm (25 9/16 x 19 7/8in)
Private collection

Antoine Bouvard (French, 1870-1956), see above

Noel Georges Bouvard, (French, 1912-1975)
Venetian gondoliers with the Campanile di San Marco in the distance 
Oil on canvas
48.9 x 63.5cm (19 1/4 x 25in).
Private collection

Campanile di San Marco is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, located in the Piazza San Marco. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.


The tower stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a fluted brick square shaft, 12 metres (39 ft) wide on each side and 50 metres (160 ft) tall, above which is a loggia surrounding the belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show the Lion of St. Mark and the female representation of Venice (la Giustizia: Justice). The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. The current tower was reconstructed in its present form in 1912 after the collapse of 1902. More on Campanile di San Marco

Bouvard Noel George, 1912-1972, was born on the 25 December, 1912 in Paris, the son of Eloi Noel Beraud, better known as Marc Aldine or Antoine Bouvard. He was a recognised artist of architectural and landscape paintings, however, like his father he became best known for his works of Venetian canals. After studying at Ecole des Beaux Artists he became very influenced by his father and they worked together for many years from 1935 to 1950. Like his father, he often went to Venice to prepare his sketches and drafts from which he was able to create the flowing landscapes and harmonious arrangements, which made his paintings highly sought after in France as well as the UK. Bouvard places the scene carefully on the canvas with surrounding buildings reflecting in the water, and portrays the heat of the sun in its reflection against the stone surfaces. More on Bouvard Noel George

Noel Georges Bouvard, (French, 1912-1975)
Venetian canal with St Mark's Campanile beyond 
Oil on canvas
50.2 x 65.4cm (19 3/4 x 25 3/4in).
Private collection

St Mark's Campanile, see above

Bouvard Noel George, 1912-1972, see above


William Logsdail, 1859-1944
FEEDING THE BIRDS OUTSIDE FLORIAN'S, ST. MARK'S SQUARE, VENICE
Oil on canvasboard

35.5 by 25.5cm., 14 by 10in
Private collection

Caffè Florian is a coffee house situated in the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco, Venice. It was established in 1720, and is the oldest coffee house in continuous operation (with Café Procope in Paris). The Caffè was patronised in its early days by notable people including Casanova, who was no doubt attracted by the fact that Caffè Florian was the only coffee house that allowed women. Later Lord Byron, Marcel Proust, and Charles Dickens were frequent visitors. It became a meeting place for people from different social classes. More on Caffè Florian

William Logsdail (25 May 1859 – 3 September 1944) was a prolific English landscape, portrait, and genre painter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Grosvenor Gallery, the New Gallery (London), and others. He is notable for his realistic London and Venice scenes and his plein air style.

In the autumn of 1880, Logsdail visited Venice where he was to remain, with occasional visits to England, the Balkans, Egypt and the Middle East, until 1900. During this early period in his career, he gravitated towards architectural and subject paintings. 

He also painted some sixty-nine small paintings for the Fine Art Society on the subject of the French and Italian Riviera. In 1893, Logsdail was awarded a medal for oil painting at the World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair).

After spending two years in Taormina and Sicily, he and his family returned to England, settling in West Kensington, London. This marked the beginning of a period of portrait painting for Logsdail, who was offered so many commissions that he was able to pick and choose his sitter at will.


In 1912, he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. As his career progressed, he turned to flower studies. More on William Logsdail














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01 Work of the Canals of Venice, Martín Rico y Ortega's Gondolier in a Venetian Canal, with footnotes. #125

Martín Rico y Ortega, Spanish, 1833 - 1908 Gondolier in a Venetian Canal Oil on canvas 20 by 16⅛ in.; 50.8 by 41 cm Private collectio...