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Lot Essay
It was most probably Jacques-Emile Blanche who introduced Sickert to Paul Robert, an artist living in Paris, during the 1890s. He became a major patron of Sickert's work (see also lots 203, 204 and 206) and particularly collected his Venetian landscapes, which he seems to have bought direct from Sickert.
The present work dates from Sickert's second trip to Venice in the winter of 1900-1901. The paintings from this visit fall into two distinct stylistic groups, the second group being characterised by a heavier and more opaque application of the paint and 'the use of more brilliant and resonant colours (especially glowing green and a deep purple)'. These changes appear to have come about because of an excursion to Paris in December 1900, and to the fact that he had previously been painting in the summer in Venice in 1900, to return in the winter and spring of 1901. He later wrote to a friend during the summer of 1901 from Venice, describing the 'neo-French violet shadows' of his current work. (see W. Baron, loc. cit.).
The present work dates from Sickert's second trip to Venice in the winter of 1900-1901. The paintings from this visit fall into two distinct stylistic groups, the second group being characterised by a heavier and more opaque application of the paint and 'the use of more brilliant and resonant colours (especially glowing green and a deep purple)'. These changes appear to have come about because of an excursion to Paris in December 1900, and to the fact that he had previously been painting in the summer in Venice in 1900, to return in the winter and spring of 1901. He later wrote to a friend during the summer of 1901 from Venice, describing the 'neo-French violet shadows' of his current work. (see W. Baron, loc. cit.).