Beschreibung:

Irma Stern (South African, 1894-1966) Grand Canal, Venice signed and dated 'Irma Stern/ 1945' (lower centre); Wolpe Gallery label dated 1945 (verso) oil on canvas 71 x 91cm (27 15/16 x 35 13/16in). Fußnoten Provenance Acquired from the Joseph Wolpe Gallery, 1974. A private collection, Cape Town. Sold at Strauss & Co., Cape Town, 7 March 2011. Silver Oaks Trust Collection, Stellenbosch. A private collection, George, South Africa. Literature The Cape Argus, illustrated 13 February, 1949. Tygerberg Nuus, illustrated 24 November, 1961. Exhibited Cape Town, South African Association of Arts, Irma Stern February, 1949. Cape Town, South African Association of Arts, Irma Stern Paintings 1916-1957, November 1961, cat. no. 38. Literature M. Arnold, Irma Stern A Feast for the Eye, (Cape Town, 1995), illustrated p.91. This breathtaking view of the Grand Canal stretching all the way to the Giardini, was executed following a visit to the Venice Biennale. The dramatic compositional lines of the bay lead the eye directly to the focal point of the painting, Santa Maria della Pietà. Renowned for its ceiling frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, the foundations of the church were laid in the fifteenth century. The church is also known as the Church of Vivaldi, after the great Baroque composer. From 1703 until 1740, Antonio Vivaldi taught violin and viola to the children in the care of the church's charitable institution. Following her visit in the 1940s, Stern was invited to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale in 1950 and 1958. Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, entranced her. In this painting, she captures the magical quality of the shimmering canal, but also the hustle and bustle of the city's major artery.