Lido, Venice 

Muirhead Bone made this watercolor sketch of the Lido in Venice at some point in his career. Bone was a Scottish etcher and draughtsman known for his depictions of industrial subjects and urban landscapes. This sketch presents the Lido as a liminal space, a thin strip of land between the lagoon and the sea. In the early 20th century, the Lido was transformed into a fashionable beach resort, attracting wealthy tourists from across Europe. Bone's sketch, however, seems to resist this narrative of leisure and luxury. The buildings are rendered in a cursory manner, and the overall impression is one of emptiness and desolation. What are we to make of this apparent ambivalence? As historians, we might look to period guidebooks, tourist brochures, and social commentary to understand how the Lido was perceived at the time, and to determine whether Bone's depiction was in line with common sentiment.