One of the great difficulties facing modern artists is that of
coming up with a contemporary statement. Virtually everything
we would choose to depict has been tackled previously and, most
discouragingly, very often by an acknowledged master. However,
if one looks at these earlier images, it becomes apparent that
they were simply capturing the details of contemporary life. Today’s
Venice is basically a great tourist hub. One of the most painted
spots on earth, the area around the Piazza San Marco, became the
subject of my painting On the Grand Tour, Venice.
I searched for and found a view that I had never seen depicted
before. The discovery of this view of the arcade of the Doge’s
Palace from across an adjoining canal excited me. Combining this
new view with today’s people – the casually sprawled
tourists, backpackers and school groups – brought this corner
of the famed city to life in a thoroughly contemporary way. This
work was the final step in a process that included an on-site
watercolor sketch of structures and pencil sketches of tourists
with color notes, among other things. Several optional lighting
schemes were developed before I settled on this one.
