The Palazzo Ducale 2 1908

This is Claude Monet’s vision of The Palazzo Ducale, rendered with oil on canvas. He returned to Venice several times, and this painting feels like one moment in a series of conversations, one layer in a long process of looking. I can imagine Monet standing on the bank, trying to fix in paint those shimmering, fleeting reflections on the water. It’s like he’s trying to catch the light itself, with all those dabs and dashes of yellows, blues, and purples. The paint is applied with visible brushstrokes, creating texture and a sense of movement. Look at the way the yellows in the water reflect the building, how they dance and flicker. Monet painted many series of paintings, including water lilies and haystacks. Like those, this painting is not just a depiction of a place but an exploration of light, color, and perception. He’s in conversation with J.M.W. Turner and Whistler, all those artists who tried to capture the atmosphere of the world with paint. It reminds me that painting is an ongoing experiment, each artist adding to the dialogue, trying to articulate something new about the way we see.