Canaletto, Turner, Monet, Signac, Sargent: Five Views of Venice

An article on DailyArt Magazine surveys five famous paintings of Venice by Canaletto, J.M.W. Turner, Claude Monet, Paul Signac, and John Singer Sargent, all held in major museums. Canaletto's "Piazza San Marco" (late 1720s, Metropolitan Museum of Art) depicts the Basilica of Saint Mark and the piazza, produced for Grand Tour tourists. Turner's "Venice From the Porch of Madonna della Salute" (1835, Metropolitan Museum of Art) shows the Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute, a votive church built after the 1630 plague; the work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. Monet's "Grand Canal" (1908, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) focuses on reflections and light, part of a series of 37 paintings. Signac's "Entrance to the Grand Canal" (1905, Toledo Museum of Arts) features the Salute church and Punta della Dogana (now a contemporary art museum) in pointillist style. Sargent's "A Street in Venice" (1882, National Gallery of Art) depicts everyday life, showing a young woman walking past two men in shadows.