Oskar Kokoschka

Arturo Deana, Venice (1966)
Giovanni Deana, Venice (by descent from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in the 1980s

Venice, XXIV Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Oskar Kokoschka, Mostra Personale, 1948, no. 7a
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Oskar Kokoschka, 1966, no. 91 (with incorrect measurements)
Vienna, Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Oskar Kokoschka – Städteportraits, 1986, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
(titled Venedig, Punta della Dogana mit Blick auf San Giorgio)
Vienna, Kunstforum Länderbank, Oskar Kokoschka, 1991, no. 74, illustrated in colour in the catalogue (titled Venedig, Punta della Dogana mit Blick auf San Giorgio)

Michelangelo Masciotta, Kokoschka, Florence, 1949, illustrated in colour pl. XXXVII
Hans Maria Wingler, Oskar Kokoschka – The Work of the Painter, Salzburg, 1958, no. 350, illustrated p. 331  (with incorrect measurements)
Oskar Kokoschka: Exil und neue Heimat, 1934-1980 (exhibition catalogue), Albertina, Vienna, 2008, illustrated in colour p. 34 (titled Venedig, Punta della Dogana mit Blick auf San Giorgio)

The canvas is unlined. There are a few very small spots of retouching: two at the top edge, one at the left edge and two in the lower left quadrant, visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from some very fine stable craquelure, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although the yellow tones are slightly more pronounced in the original.
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Venice, Bacino di San Marco is a magnificent depiction of Venice, and one of only two known panoramic views of the city that Kokoschka executed throughout his career. Kokoschka first visited Venice in 1924, when he painted a view of the Dogana from the balcony of the celebrated Hotel Danieli (fig. 2), now at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. This painting shows a mirror image of the actual view, as Kokoschka executed the work facing away from the water, using a mirror to define the scope of the composition. During his subsequent visits to Venice he painted four views of the famous baroque church Santa Maria della Salute, and his Italian travels also resulted in magnificent depictions of architectural landmarks in Florence and Rome.

 

The present work was executed during the artist’s visit to Italy in the summer of 1948. In June of that year Kokoschka and his wife Olda travelled to the Biennale in Venice (fig. 1), where the artist was represented with sixteen oils. During his stay at the Europa Britannia Hotel Kokoschka painted two views of the city from the hotel window: the present work and a close-up depiction of Santa Maria della Salute (H.M. Wingler, op. cit., no. 351). Both oils were executed in June or July 1948, and shortly afterwards were included in the special exhibition of Kokoschka’s work at the Venice Biennale of that year. Following the opening of the Biennale, Oskar and Olda Kokoschka spent a month on Lake Garda in July and August, after which they travelled to Ravenna, Bologna and Ferrara, and finally settled in Florence where they stayed until December.

 

Painted, like most of his other Venetian compositions, from his hotel window, Venice, Bacino di San Marco shows a view of the Grand Canal with the Punta della Dogana along the right, with San Giorgio Maggiore visible in the background, across the Saint Mark Basin. Situated at the entrance to the Grand Canal, the handsome colonnaded building named Dogana di Mare dates from the second half of the seventeenth century. Its tower is crowned by two Atlases holding up a bronze globe. Atop the globe, another statue - Fortuna - acts as a weathervane by holding a garment, or perhaps a ship's rudder, to the wind. Across the Bacino di San Marco (Saint Mark Basin) is the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, with its famous church of the same name, a Palladian basilica completed in the early seventeenth century. The canals are punctuated with boats of all sizes, which appear to be moving in different directions. This frenzied activity was probably not a direct representation of a scene the artist would have witnessed from his hotel window, however it encapsulates his elation at being in Venice, surrounded by glorious architecture and shimmering light.

 

In painting views of Venice, Kokoschka draws on a long tradition in European art, spanning from Canaletto to Impressionist and post-Impressionist masters such as Monet, Boudin and Signac. Like his predecessors, Kokoschka was fascinated by the city’s uniqueness as well as by the quality of Mediterranean light. The combination of water and architecture of a large city also held great appeal to the artist, and his views of cities on rivers or canals – including London, Prague, Dresden and Istanbul – are today recognised as being among his most accomplished works. The major retrospective exhibition of Kokoschka’s work held in Basel in 1947 marked a turning point for the artist. As he told his sister, the great success of the show gave him back his ‘joie de vivre', faith in humanity, and hope for the future’. Painted on a bright summer day, with the city’s landmark features bathed in sunlight, Venice, Bacino di San Marco certainly reflects this newfound joy. Executed with a bright palette applied in dynamic brushstrokes, the palpable sense of movement and energy ranks this among Kokoschka’s more life affirming compositions.