Venice by Albert Goodwin, RWS, 1845-1932. Pastel on paper, signed, inscribed with the title and dated 1892. 22 x 31 3/4 inches, 55.9 x 79.3 centimetres.
Commentary by Peter Nahum
Albert Goodwin first travelled to Venice in 1872 in the company of John Ruskin, the greatest enthusiast for the city of the Victorian age. although Goodwin made subsequent visits there, he developed his sketches and ideas from this early trip until the end of the century, stating in the catalogue of his 1896 London exhibition:
Though I date my pictures at the time of their completion, I would by no means have it inferred that the whole of this exhibition has been done in the last year. Some of the subjects were begun as many as twenty years ago.
It is clear, however, that the present work has its genesis in a later visit. Goodwin has shed the Pre-Raphaelite inspiration and under Turner's influence developed a brilliant rendering of space and atmosphere, seen to full effect in his handling of the pastel medium. [p. 68]
References
A Century of Master Drawings, Watercolours, & Works in Egg Tempera. London: Peter Nahum, nd. Catalogue number 13.
Smith, Hammond. Albert Goodwin. London: 1977.
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Last modified 1 August 2001