Canal Scene, Venice, Italy 19th-20th century

Curator: This is Denman Waldo Ross’s "Canal Scene, Venice, Italy," a watercolor sketch. It has such a fleeting, dreamlike quality about it. Editor: Yes, the colors really capture that shimmering, almost mirage-like impression Venice often gives. The campanile, a phallic symbol, pierces the sky next to the maternal dome. A dance of power dynamics is happening. Curator: I like how you see that. It certainly is about that tension, the dialogue, maybe, between stability and aspiration. Watercolor lends itself to capturing ephemeral moments. Editor: Absolutely. It's a quick notation, almost a visual diary entry. All of Venice is reduced to a few telling symbols. Curator: Exactly, a whisper of a memory. Editor: Yes, a very insightful one.