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Lot Essay
The statue of Fortune which sits atop the pavilion of the Dogana, Venice's customs house, is one of the most famous and prominent landmarks in the city. A huge golden ball is supported on the backs of two bronze Atlases, with the bronze figure of Fortune above holding a shield which acts as a weather vane.
Sargent's extraordinarily close-cropped composition against a brilliant blue sky with billowing clouds gives the sense of the statue about to float away, the fragment of the top of the Dogana below the only sense of grounding.
Another version of this drawing, from a slightly more distant viewpoint showing more of the Dogana tower, is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv.12.201).
The watercolour was given to Elena Rathbone (1878-1964) as a wedding present when she married Bruce Richmond, the first editor of the Times Literary Supplement, 1n 191, as well as a watercolour of Palazzo Grimani. Her father, William Gair Rathbone (1849-1919), was a close friend of Sargent's who owned many of his works.
Sargent's extraordinarily close-cropped composition against a brilliant blue sky with billowing clouds gives the sense of the statue about to float away, the fragment of the top of the Dogana below the only sense of grounding.
Another version of this drawing, from a slightly more distant viewpoint showing more of the Dogana tower, is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv.12.201).
The watercolour was given to Elena Rathbone (1878-1964) as a wedding present when she married Bruce Richmond, the first editor of the Times Literary Supplement, 1n 191, as well as a watercolour of Palazzo Grimani. Her father, William Gair Rathbone (1849-1919), was a close friend of Sargent's who owned many of his works.