Félix Ziem

Sale: Christie's, New York, October 1977, lot 67, illustrated (as On the Riva Degli Schiavoni, Venice, with the Doges' Palace and the Bacino)
Galt Galleries, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Private collection, USA. (acquired from the above in February 1978)

Anne Burdin-Hellebranth, Félix Ziem 1821-1911, n.p. 1998, vol. I, p. 159, no. 393, illustrated

Felix Ziem was the painter of Venice par excellence. He visited the city more than twenty times, between 1845 and 1892 and often spent several months a year in the 'floating city'. The vivacity and freshness of Ziem's palette, his skill at capturing the fleeting effects of light, and his ability to transcribe the iridescence of sunlight on water have often led to comparison with the work of the French Impressionists. More than the Impressionists, Ziem wanted to express the poetic quality of his subject, to transform it into a dream-like vision. Ziem was a regular exhibitor at the prestigious Paris Salon, and he became the first artist whose works entered the Louvre Museum during his own lifetime. Today, his views of Venice and Costantinople can be seen in numerous public museum collections.