View in Venice-The Grand Canal

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A painting of a man steering a gondola on bright blue reflective water, with blue and white striped posts on the right and left side and buildings lining the background of the top third.

The Grand Canal, Venice, 1875, Edouard Manet, French, 1832-1883, oil on canvas, 23 1/8 in x 28 1/8 in., Collection of Shelburne Museum, gift of the Electra Havemeyer Webb Fund, Inc. 1972-69.15.

Though Edouard Manet visited Venice early in his career at age 21 to study Italian masterworks in 1853, Manet created View in Venice and this other painting, Venice—The Grand Canal (Blue Venice) at age 42 from a later trip in 1874. By this time he had transitioned, from a Realist to a looser style, as both of his images of Venice emphasize the movement of light, particularly on the water’s surface.