Venice Night, circa 1906 by James Wilson Morrice

Provenance:
Charles Pacquement, Paris, by 1910
Watson Galleries, Montreal, October 1924
Norman MacFarlane, Montreal, 4 November 1924
Watson Galleries, Montreal
Colonel and Mrs. G.M. Strong, Montreal, 15 February 1949
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto

Exhibited:
"Exposition de peintres et de sculpteurs sous la présidence d'A. Rodin (ancienne Société Nouvelle)", Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 9 March-4 April 1910, no. 102 as "Venise. Nuit"
"Special Autumn Exhibition", Watson Galleries, Montreal, circa 10-20 October 1924 as "Venetian Nocturne"
"Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the Late James W. Morrice, R.C.A.", Art Association of Montreal, 16 January-15 February 1925, no. 107 as "Venice, Nocturne"
"James Wilson Morrice", Biennale Internazionale d'Arte di Venezia, Canadian Pavilion, Venice, 14 June-19 October 1958, no. 12 as "Venezia di notte", circa 1908

Literature:
'Paintings to Suit All Tastes in Art', "The Gazette", Montreal, 16 October 1924, page 8
Sandra Paikowsky, "James Wilson Morrice. Paintings and Drawings of Venice", Stuttgart, 2023, pages 109-111, reproduced page 110

James Wilson Morrice visited Venice at least seven times between 1894 and 1907, often for weeks at a time. The paintings of that period, from small pochades that he developed into substantial canvases, included views of the Grand Canal in evening. "Venice Night" is likely one of his later images of Venice and demonstrates Morrice's exceptional ability to combine an accurate representation of the city with tonal colour and light that evoke the sensual and haunting atmosphere of his Venetian night views.

In this spectacular painting "Venice Night", circa 1906, Morrice regards the scene from a low viewpoint and concentrates on the steps and railings along the edge of St. Mark's Basin (Bacino), with silent gondolas and a distant view of the Church of the Salute. The attenuated water steps in "Venice Night", the high stone wall, and the classical balustrade take up the right corner of the canvas, and with the Salute in the distance. The Bacino is shown at low tide, which accounts for nearby boats waiting for customers to cruise the great waterway. Henrietta Perl, in her 1894 book "Venezia", described similar scenes on the Grand Canal and Bacino at the end of day: "Everywhere in front of the broad flights of marble steps are to be seen the black gondolas, with their gilded prows."

Morrice painted a small oil panel, perhaps in preparation for "Venice Night", depicting a similar view along the Grand Canal. "Venice Night's" geometry, especially the parapet, is animated by the two onlookers who look in Morrice's direction, and the balloon-shaped tree that replicates the dome of the Salute Church. The couple are likely "popolani", Venetian citizens who are at home in the glorious setting without it distracting them from their conversation. The height of the wall and extenuated steps of the canvas are almost the same design as the balustrade and parapet in Venice's Public Gardens. This suggests a different setting from the "Study for 'Venice Night'". Instead, the panel closely resembles the Royal Gardens, near the foot of the Piazzetta San Marco at the western end of the Grand Canal where it becomes St. Mark's Basin. The long curve of the Bacino ends at the Giardini Pubblici (to use its proper name.) In the canvas "Venice Night", the marble structure near the Public Gardens becomes a belvedere rather than the railings of an urban park like the Royal Gardens. When the canvas was exhibited at he Venice Biennale in the Giardini Pubblici in 1958, it was dated circa 1908, suggesting it was among the last of Morrice’s Venetian images. Perhaps it is more accurate to consider the images of "Venice Night" as two independent pictures, with the panel inspiring the canvas rather than being its direct predecessor.

An extraordinary Baroque church from 1631, the Salute is shown in an accurate side view with its domes lined up in profile to balance the plane of the steps and balustrade. In the canvas, the church accurately appears more distant than in the panel, and Morrice has suggested it is now twilight. The building and the surrounding structures hover over the Bacino like a mythical sea creature, and spread along St. Mark's Basin in a shimmering, diaphanous light rather than the black velvet of the panel painting. The Salute divides the surface of "Venice Night" in half, with the sky a foil in scale and colour for the waters that surround the balustrade and steps. The waterway is punctuated by gondolas and torch lights, with Morrice’s deliberate brushstrokes on the marble balustrade and stairway almost mimicking the repeated motion of the gondoliers’ “pulling the water.” The monumental canvas is filled with plotted vignettes that create an almost collage-like image; at the same time, the range of colour is comparatively limited, and the spectrum of light to dark is relatively narrow, keeping everything in its carefully composed place, which was intrinsic to Venetian pictures by James Wilson Morrice.

We extend our thanks to Sandra Paikowsky, C.M., author of "James Wilson Morrice. Paintings and Drawings of Venice" (arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2023) for adapting the preceding essay from her book.

We extend our thanks to Lucie Dorais, Canadian art historian and author of "J.W. Morrice" (National Gallery of Canada, 1985), for her assistance in researching this artwork.