Palaces, Venice 1924

This is a watercolour by James McBey, called Palaces, Venice. The hazy application of colour here suggests a moment in time, like a snapshot, where McBey has captured the floating world. Watercolours are unforgiving, they allow for transparency and layering, but there is little opportunity to conceal the marks. It is possible to see in the layering of washes on the water, how McBey has worked intuitively to depict the surface of the lagoon. The artist’s hand is clearly visible in the broad application of thin pigment, particularly the horizontal sweeps of blue that form the body of water, the strokes are rhythmic and full of energy, like finger-painting. The softness of the colours help to create an atmosphere of calm, the architecture of Venice seems to merge with the sky. Like Whistler, McBey’s approach has been process oriented, and he embraces ambiguity and the exchange of ideas across time.