As we hunker down for a long, cold winter, I thought it would be
comforting to gaze upon the vibrant colors and light of a
distant (although not always warmer) location, focusing on views
of Venice by Walter Launt Palmer (1854-1932). After sharing a
studio with Frederic E. Church (1826‒1900) in the famous Tenth
Street Studio building, Palmer departed for Europe in 1881,
intending to paint the many lavish interiors to be found there.
He took this opportunity to visit Venice, where he remained for
two months, sketching, painting, and photographing views of
Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal, which soon became one of
his favorite subjects. It is in his Venice pictures that his
artistic experimentation is most evident, with certain works
bearing the sleek realism of the academic mode, and others
exploiting the more painterly qualities of the Impressionist
style. Hawthorne Fine Art’s most recent acquisition by Palmer is
Sailboats, View of Venice, which depicts a distant view of the
magnificent Campanile and Basi