£72,701
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture | 763
Auction: Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Signed and inscribed 'Venice', inscribed on the backboard 'G. W. Service Esq' and 'Venice 1910', oil on panel
Provenance:
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
George W. Service Esq, Glasgow
A trip to Venice in 1910, sponsored by his school friend and politician, Sir Patrick Ford, proved to be a turning-point in the career of the Scottish Colourist F. C. B. Cadell. As Alice Strang has written: ‘Venice’s beauty and grandeur, seen in mirror image in her watery surroundings, prompted an interest in reflections that became a defining characteristic of Cadell’s work. His technique became much freer and he adopted a brighter palette. Initial conservative paintings of church interiors gave way to vigorous, rich images of Venice, such as the patrons of Florian’s Café in St Mark’s Square…and views across the lagoon.’ (Alice Strang, F. C. B. Cadell, National Galleries of Scotland, 2010, p.17)
Venice is one such work, likely to have been painted on the spot on its modestly-sized board, which was easy to transport when on the hunt for picturesque scenes to capture in paint. It bears a label on the reverse from the celebrated artists’ supplies merchant Emillio Aickelin of Via 22 Marzo in the city. In this case, Cadell was probably based on the Riva degli Schiavoni, looking south at the boats seen at full sail in the Canale di San Marco and over to the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, with the campanile outlined to the left thought to be that of the island’s church.
Working at speed and with fluency, Cadell applied thick brushstrokes to his support, with the zig-zagged reflections a passage of particular verve. Terracotta dominates his palette, with areas painted ‘wet on wet’ used as a method by which to quickly combine tones in a lively expression of form, such as the billowing of the sail fabric and the prows of the boats.
On his return to Edinburgh, Patrick Ford chose six Venetian paintings in return for his support, acquiring others as his patronage of his friend’s career continued; three were presented to the National Galleries of Scotland in his memory in 2014 (acc.no.s GMA 5517-9). Venice works were included in Cadell’s solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in the capital not long after the trip, as well as at the New Gallery, Edinburgh in 1913 and in Society of Eight exhibitions of 1925 and 1926 (see Cadell’s Register of Pictures 1909-1930, on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland GMA AL/15/6). Venice formerly belonged to Cadell’s great collector, the ship-owner George Service. The men met during Cadell’s first visit to the Hebridean island of Iona in 1912, with Service eventually acquiring some 150 of his works.
We are grateful to Kirstie Meehan, Archivist, National Galleries of Scotland, for her help in researching this work.