Gezicht op Venetië met de Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore 1884 - 1952

This is Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries’s view of Venice with the Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore. Looking at this understated work on paper, I immediately think about all the different ways one could depict Venice. The artist uses subtle, pale washes of watercolor with pencil to suggest the hazy light and the reflections on the water. You can almost feel the dampness in the air. I can imagine him standing there with his sketchbook, trying to capture the essence of the scene, simplifying the details, choosing to include the iron bars in the foreground, as if glimpsing the view from a window or balcony. There is a sense of quiet contemplation, as if the artist is inviting us to share in a private moment of appreciation for the beauty of Venice. It reminds me of other painters like Whistler or Sargent, who captured fleeting moments of light and atmosphere in their paintings of Venice. It's a reminder that painting is like looking, and is all about trying to understand how we see the world.