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Lot Essay
In The Studio magazine of 1908 Alfred Lys Baldry said of Melton Fisher's Venetian scenes that 'The subjects he chose were characteristic of modern Venetian life; his canvases were records of his observation of the people among whom he found himself, and by their brilliant reality and clever statements of picturesque facts gained the approval of everyone who was qualified to judge his work'.
In the late 1870s and 1880s Venice became home to a cosmopolitan panoply of artists. Melton Fisher arrived in the city in 1883 after winning a travelling scholarship where he joined British artists such as James McNeil Whistler, Henry Woods and William Logsdail, part of an artistic community with Italians, Spanish and Austrians, all drawn to the city by its beauty, vivacity and light. A man with a striking resemblance to Whistler is pictured on the steps in the centre of the painting.
In the late 1870s and 1880s Venice became home to a cosmopolitan panoply of artists. Melton Fisher arrived in the city in 1883 after winning a travelling scholarship where he joined British artists such as James McNeil Whistler, Henry Woods and William Logsdail, part of an artistic community with Italians, Spanish and Austrians, all drawn to the city by its beauty, vivacity and light. A man with a striking resemblance to Whistler is pictured on the steps in the centre of the painting.