Venetian Canal Scene 1899

Maurice Prendergast made this watercolor painting, "Venetian Canal Scene", during a time when Venice was a popular destination for upper-class tourists. The painting is a shimmering dance of light on water, capturing a romanticized view of Venice. But let’s consider what’s not depicted. Prendergast's Venice is one where the working-class population is absent. The painting presents a leisure space for a primarily white, moneyed class. The gondoliers and other service workers are rendered invisible, allowing a comfortable fiction for the tourist-viewer. This reflects a broader historical trend of obscuring the labor and social inequalities that make leisure possible. Prendergast's artistic choices serve to create an idealized, and ultimately, exclusionary image. It invites us to consider the politics of who gets to be seen, and whose stories are told in the picturesque views of tourist destinations.