Rio della Maddalena 1908

Julius Leblanc Stewart’s *Rio della Maddalena* captures a Venetian canal with the light of day in warm strokes of oil on canvas. Just imagine Stewart standing there, brush in hand, squinting at the scene. Maybe he starts with the water, teasing out those liquid reflections with thin, deliberate strokes. Or perhaps it was the buildings first, layering on thicker daubs of ochre and sienna to capture the aged facades. I wonder if he felt like he was wrestling with the light itself, trying to pin down that fleeting moment when the sun kissed the canal just so. The way the buildings seem to breathe with light reminds me of Turner's landscapes, but there’s something else here too—a quiet intimacy, like a stolen glance into a private world. Stewart wasn’t just painting a place; he was capturing a feeling. I see him in conversation with other painters, all of us trying to make sense of this world, one brushstroke at a time.