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A Canal, Venice
About the Artwork
Venice was one of the primary subjects of the British artist James Holland, and his works satisfied the 19th-century popular imagination of a romantic Venice, with its sun-kissed buildings, gondolas, and quaint bridges. The present sheet was executed during a trip to Venice in 1857. Holland worked on a buff-colored sheet of paper, sketching the composition in graphite, and then painting with watercolor in rust, pink, grey, and aqua, and light blue and white opaque watercolors. The unfinished section on the side of the palazzo at upper left suggests that this drawing was kept by Holland in his studio for his own reference or pleasure.
Inscriptions
Signed with initials and inscribed "JH/Venice" center right, on bridge; inscribed “A. Light. Fresco” on building upper left.
Provenance
1998: (Spink Leger Pictures, London, England) 1998: Private Collection, United States ?-2021: (Lowell Libson, Ltd., London, England) June 7, 2021: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Quick Overview
- Artist
- James Holland (British, 1800–1870)
- Date
- 1800–1870
- Medium
- graphite and watercolor, heightened with white on buff paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 43.1 x 29.7 cm (16 15/16 x 11 11/16 in.); Sheet: 43.1 x 29.7 cm (16 15/16 x 11 11/16 in.); Primary mount: 47.2 x 33.8 cm (18 9/16 x 13 5/16 in.); Secondary mount: 49.7 x 36.4 cm (19 9/16 x 14 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd in honor of the Swetland family
- Accession no.
- 2021.109
More by James Holland in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011346
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