Stanhope Alexander Forbes, R.A.

Harrods, London
Purchased from the above by the parents of present owner circa 1930

Forbes exhibited A Venetian Balcony (Christie's, London, 8 June 1989, lot 7), Santa Maria della Salute (Christie's, London, 5 March 1987, lot 57) and The “Flying Cloud” Off Venice at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1928. These were all painted during Forbes’ holiday in Venice in 1927 or from sketches made there and taken back to his studio in Newlyn. The present picture is dated 1927 and is similar to A Venetian Backwater sold from the Reader’s Digest Collection (Christie’s, London, 19 November 2004, lot 75). It depicts the sunlit canal, the Rio dei Mendicanti, where gondolas are moored and tourists are taking the view from the red-brick bridge, the Ponte del Cavallo. Other figures are crowded at the wall at the public square, the Campo Santi di Giovanni e Paolo in front of the marble edifice of the Scuola Grande de San Marco. It is a view that has not changed and has been painted many times but it was new to Forbes in 1927. He gave the view his own fresh perspective, delighting in the shimmering effects of the buildings reflected in the tranquil canal, the colours of their red and gold facades contrasting with the brilliant blue of the sky mirrored in the water.