Venice 1903

Thomas Moran made this painting of Venice with oil paint, presumably on canvas, sometime in the past. Look at how thinly he’s applied the paint! It feels less like a picture of boats on the water and more like light hitting the surface of everything. There's a lot of sky here, and the clouds look soft and porous. They let the light in, reflecting onto the water below, so it’s hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins. It’s like he's trying to capture the sensation of being there. See how the brushstrokes blend together? There’s a real looseness and freedom to the application of paint, which is what gives the painting its sense of atmosphere and movement. Moran was known for his landscapes, particularly of the American West, and you can see that same sensibility here, a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of the natural world. Think of Turner, or maybe Whistler, but filtered through an American sensibility. Ultimately, art isn't just about what we see, but how we see it.