Port at Lake Garda 

Jacob Happ painted this watercolour scene of the Port at Lake Garda. It's a charming, loose rendering of a busy port, capturing the dappled light on the water and the hustle of daily life. But beneath the surface, it speaks to larger social and economic forces at play in Europe. Happ was a German artist, and like many of his contemporaries, he would travel to Italy for artistic inspiration. But tourism became more accessible to the middle classes during this period. This increase in tourism had a profound impact on Italian society, transforming many local economies and altering their social structures. Italian art and culture became increasingly commodified to meet tourists' demands. Looking at the painting, we should consider how it reflects the artist's social position as a well-to-do tourist, and what kind of audience would have consumed such images. The painting offers us a glimpse into the complex relationship between art, tourism, and social class in the late 19th century. To fully grasp this, we need to delve into travel journals and economic data from the period.