a view of Venice - Paul Leduc (1876 - 1943)

Oil on canvas
Signed lower right.

Dimensions: 60 x 45 cm , 75 x 60 cm (framed)
THE ARTWORK

On his trip to southern Italy, Paul Leduc was fascinated by the various canals, rivers and bridges that crossed his path. So one of these stops was Venice. He has made several works about this. Like many luminists, he paid attention to light and light effects. The Luminists emerged from Post-Impressionism and adopted elements of Realism and Impressionism. So we see an optical mixture of colors and emphasis on lighting effects. The technique we see here is pointillism. Leduc did not let the paint flow into each other, they are all separate dots of paint next to each other. This technique makes the colors stand out better due to the contrast.

The pastel color is predominant in this scene. Only the boat, or gondola, has dark colors. The water and the reflection of the bridge become exactly cloudy thanks to pointillism. There is movement in the water. Looking deeper, we see two figures on the right side of the bridge. In contrast to the rough painting technique, they are painted very refined. Because the paint was not ironed flat, we get the illusion that the clothes have folds. These were created thanks to the casual use of paint and brush. A little further on the left side of the canal, we see two more moored gondolas


THE ARTIST

Paul Leduc was a Belgian impressionist painter. He mainly painted landscapes and urban views. He was born in La Louviere on August 28, 1876 and died in Schaerbeek on July 13, 1943. He started his studies with the students of Joseph Coosemans in Tervuren. He later studied under the guidance of Bourlard at the Academy of Mons and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In his oeuvre we mainly see scenes from the south of Italy. Here he was fascinated by the rivers, canals and bridges. He started in impressionism, but over time he evolved into luminism.