Liverpool artwork of the day – Thursday June 28 2007. ‘Venice’ 1840 Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851) Watercolour on paper at The Walker
Over 160 years later and it looks just the same. We’ve been there the past few days checking out the Biennale and stuff. Hot, dry and sunny it was but still great to be back in Liverpool.
This is one of a number of the limpid aquatic views of Venice from the so-called ‘Roll Sketchbook’ of 1840. These works perfectly reveal Turner’s great skill in old age as a watercolourist.
Painted wet-on-wet, with paint removed by using a sponge and scratching, the final surface marks are quickly applied red penstrokes.
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