Henry A. Ferguson (American, 1842-1911). A rainy day on the Riva degli Schiavoni, Venice. Oil on canvas. 15-1/4 x 25-1/2...

Description

Henry A. Ferguson (American, 1842-1911)
A rainy day on the Riva degli Schiavoni, Venice
Oil on canvas
15-1/4 x 25-1/2 inches (38.7 x 64.8 cm)
Signed lower left: Henry A. Ferguson

PROVENANCE:
Ernest Vignati (1900-1980), Los Angeles, California;
Bernard and Janet Tohl, Los Angeles, California, acquired from the above, mid-1960s;
Private collection, Studio City, California, by descent from the above.

Most painters of Venice delight in showing La Serenissima at her most colorful and radiant-either on bright sunny days where blue skies soar above the deep aqua water of the lagoons and canals, or at searing sunset where hot colors reflect on all parts of the floating city. In the present work, Henry Ferguson sensitively captured an entirely different, but equally enchanting face of Venice, one the locals know well. Here, she appears in her moody cloak of grays, silvers, ochres, and browns, just as the pedestrians, warm in their coats, wander along the Riva degli Schiavoni in the rain. Autumn has come to Venice and with it the rains and the season of acqua alta, the tidal floods which submerge parts of the city in a foot or more of seawater. One wonders, looking at the edge of the promenade where the boats are moored, whether one such flood is just beginning. Although Henry Ferguson was American-born and maintained a New York studio, he spent most of his career painting abroad, much like his noted countryman James McNeill Whistler, who fell powerfully under the spell of Venice.


More information about Ferguson, Henry A.. See also: Henri A. Ferguson Artist.



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