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Lido, the seven-mile barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, shelters the city from the sea. At the time Whistler visited the island the area around the church was the most developed consisting of restaurants, resorts, and bathing beaches. However, no sign of the vacation industry is present in his image. Whistler began this work as a vertical scene, which is apparent in the horizontal lines covered over in the sky. Perhaps he had initially planned to depict the campanile (belltower) in this format, but then decided that such a composition would be too obvious and static. The pinholes in the work suggest Whistler pinned the work to his drawing board, perhaps to continue working it over time.
Exhibition History“Venice Pastels,” London Fine Arts Society, London, opened January 29, 1881, no. 27, as Campanile at Lido
“Our Gilded Age,” Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY, November 18 – March 10, 2024
ProvenanceFrost & Reed, London, 1918
(Sotheby’s, London, June 25, 1980, lot 178, as A Venetian Church)
Private collection, Michigan, acquired directly from the above
Artist
James McNeill Whistler
(American, 1834 - 1903)
Campanile at Lido
Date1879
DimensionsSight: 7 1/4 × 11 1/4 in. (18.4 × 28.6 cm)
Object numberN0013.2024(01)
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextJames McNeill Whistler received a commission in September 1879 from the Fine Arts Society (FAS), a London gallery, to produce a set of twelve etchings of the city of Venice. Whistler ultimately found pastel to be the best medium for depicting the city in the colder Venetian winter. Working in small scale made it easy for him to transport his materials, responding to the city as he traveled through it with a medium that offered fresh color and that did not require a brush, needle, or solvent. It also afforded the spontaneity of sketching on-the-spot, achieving a wide variety of effects.Lido, the seven-mile barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, shelters the city from the sea. At the time Whistler visited the island the area around the church was the most developed consisting of restaurants, resorts, and bathing beaches. However, no sign of the vacation industry is present in his image. Whistler began this work as a vertical scene, which is apparent in the horizontal lines covered over in the sky. Perhaps he had initially planned to depict the campanile (belltower) in this format, but then decided that such a composition would be too obvious and static. The pinholes in the work suggest Whistler pinned the work to his drawing board, perhaps to continue working it over time.
Exhibition History“Venice Pastels,” London Fine Arts Society, London, opened January 29, 1881, no. 27, as Campanile at Lido
“Our Gilded Age,” Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY, November 18 – March 10, 2024
ProvenanceFrost & Reed, London, 1918
(Sotheby’s, London, June 25, 1980, lot 178, as A Venetian Church)
Private collection, Michigan, acquired directly from the above
On View
On viewAugust 27, 1944
