Signac, Paul (1863-1935)
Venise, le nuage rose, mouillage à la Giudecca (Venice, the pink cloud, anchorage at the Giudecca)
1909
Oil on canvas, 73 × 92 cm
Albertina, Vienna
In March 1908, Signac visited the lagoon city for the second time. The extent to which the Serenissima once again captivates him is shown by the present large format. Like Claude Monet in his Venice paintings from the same period, Signac allows cold and warm colors to resound at the same time. The viewer is on the Fondamenta delle Zattere and looks towards the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore bathed in the evening light. Palladio’s signature façade, as easily recognizable as the slender tower of the church’s Campanile, glows in the soft light of the setting sun. Above it floats a pink cloud, which envelops the sailing ships in the foreground in emerald green shades. Signac did not paint the painting en plein air, but the following year on the basis of studies made on site in the studio. (Albertina)