Squero San Andrea, Venice 1885

Curator: Welcome! We’re looking at "Squero San Andrea, Venice," a drawing in ink on paper by Andrew Fisher Bunner from 1885. Editor: Ah, Venice! It looks like a memory, almost dreamlike, filtered through a flurry of ink. Sort of how Venice feels anyway: timeless, a little melancholy, definitely waterlogged. Curator: Indeed. Bunner's work is interesting because it exists in that liminal space between realism and the burgeoning Impressionist movement. What does his Venice suggest to you in terms of the city’s identity at that time? Editor: Well, look at all this intricate linework capturing the buildings, the boats nestled in the squero – a boatyard, by the way. It’s all very… precise, even romantic. Like Bunner's trying to freeze a moment of authentic Venetian life before the city is completely overrun by tourists. And notice how he frames it: this boatyard, usually a hive of labor, seems hushed, serene. Curator: The Squero San Andrea would have been crucial to Venice’s infrastructure; a reminder of its history as a powerful maritime republic, and yet he depicts it almost as a stage set. It highlights a Venice already self-consciously aware of its own picturesque qualities and selling those very images. Tourism was well underway by the late 19th Century. Editor: A stage set... Exactly! Like it’s waiting for gondoliers to glide into the frame. I wonder, was he even aware of that tension he was capturing? You know, between real life and tourist fantasy. All that intense ink, seems to be hinting towards some turmoil. Curator: Perhaps not consciously, but artists often serve as cultural barometers. They register the anxieties of their time. We also have to remember that images of Venice had very quickly spread far and wide and Venice already was synonymous with its imagery rather than just its actual conditions. The distribution networks in art by then… Editor: See? Venice! Even back then it was all about the photo op. Curator: It's endlessly fascinating to consider these layers. Bunner's Squero is both a document and a dreamy ideal. Editor: Right! So thanks Andrew for capturing the tension!