Canal St. Martin 1773 - 1843

Georges Michel created this drawing of the Canal St. Martin using graphite. The composition emphasizes an overwhelming sky, achieved with minimal line work. The waterway and banks are defined with quick, gestural strokes. The sparseness evokes a sense of openness and perhaps the quietude of the scene. Michel’s approach to landscape painting comes from a lineage rooted in 17th-century Dutch art, specifically a focus on atmospheric effects and the play of light. Yet, the unfinished quality and focus on line here is a break from tradition. The emphasis on the materiality of the graphite and the paper itself invites a reading that privileges the act of drawing. The horizon line, placed high, compresses the middle ground and foreground. This flattening of perspective shifts our focus to the surface of the drawing, emphasizing its constructed nature. In Michel’s work, the canal is not merely a place; it is a space defined by the interplay of line, form, and the artist’s subjective interpretation. It is a space that invites us to reflect on the very act of seeing and representing.