I really like this painting by John Singer Sargent. Spirito Santo, Saattera is a painting that says so much with so few brush strokes. It is not photorealistic, but a beautiful water color that doesn't even use a large variety of colors--mainly various warm neutrals with a little blue and purple.
Nevertheless, Sargent really makes us see the water, as much as if he had taken months to paint it in oils. Painting water with the quick technique necessary with water colors is a wonderful way to portray the transient nature of water and of life itself.
I know this church. The neighborhood nowadays is called Zattere, not Saatera. It's in Venice, and there's a photo of it here, you have to scroll down a bit:
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In a couple of weeks my family will be staying across the Giudecca Canal from Zattere; I'll pay closer attention to the church this time around.
That's really neat that you are going to be seeing this in person!
ReplyDeleteGot back early this a.m. I'll post a pic my daughter took of the church with a bit of commentary at my blog for next Sunday's Snippets.
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