Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice, The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore [1834]

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice, The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore [1834], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

At the “especial suggestion” of a British textile manufacturer, Turner devised this Venetian cityscape as a symbolic salute to commerce. Gondolas carry cargoes of fine fabrics and exotic spices. On the right is the Dogana, or Customs House, topped by a statue of Fortune, which Turner greatly enlarged in size. Moreover, the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore has been pushed very far back in space, making the Grand Canal seem much wider than it really is.

These theatrical exaggerations and the precise, linear drafting of the architecture owe much to Canaletto, an eighteenth-century Venetian painter whose art glorified his city. At the 1834 Royal Academy show, critics gave enraptured praise to the scene’s radiant, sparkling waters. The next year, another commission from the same patron resulted in its moonlit companion piece, Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight.

[Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 122 cm]

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight [1835]

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight [1835], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

On England’s River Tyne, near the mining city of Newcastle, stevedores called keelmen transfer coal from barges, or keels, to oceangoing vessels. The harsh glare of the workmen’s torches contrasts with the funnel of creamy light emanating from the moon. Critical opinion about Turner’s unusual nocturne was divided. One reviewer observed: “It represents neither night nor day, and yet the general effect is very agreeable and surprising.”

Commissioned as a pendant to Venice: The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore and shown at the Royal Academy in 1835, this canvas creates a total counterpoint in mood and meaning. The Venetian scene is far away in the Mediterranean Sea, concerns luxury goods, and glows with warm daylight. This North Sea view, a familiar sight to the British public, reveals sooty, modern industry chilled by the colours of a winter’s night.

[Oil on canvas, 92.3 x 122.8 cm]