The Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute 1908

Here we have Monet's hazy vision of The Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute, likely made with oil paints and a dash of Venetian light. You can almost smell the water and feel the slight dampness in the air. Monet's all about the process, the experience of seeing, and boy, does he lay it on thick here. Check out how he builds up the surface with these staccato marks, like he's knitting the scene together. It's a mosaic of blues and yellows, with those upright red and orange pilings sticking out like sore thumbs – or exclamation points! They jolt you, disrupt the harmony, and keep the eye moving. Look at that little boat, barely there, just a dark smudge, yet it gives the whole scene a sense of scale and human presence. It reminds me a bit of Turner's Venetian scenes, where atmosphere devours form. But Monet, he's not quite so dramatic. He’s more interested in the subtle play of light, the way it transforms everything into something shimmering and ephemeral. It's less about Venice and more about seeing.