Monet's Venice Trip: A Near Miss for Art History

Claude Monet's celebrated Venetian paintings are now on display at San Francisco's de Young Museum in an exhibition titled "Monet and Venice." Surprisingly, the artist did not visit Venice until he was 68 years old, a city long immortalized by European painters.

This exhibition reveals that Monet's journey to Venice was not preordained. His initial visit, scheduled for just two weeks, was significantly extended to two months, enabling him to produce a substantial body of work. The show emphasizes that this artistic exploration of Venice almost didn't occur.

The exhibition features two dozen of Monet's Venetian oils, alongside works by contemporaries such as James McNeill Whistler, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, John Singer Sargent, J.M.W. Turner, and Paul Signac. It also includes early Monet pieces and late waterlily paintings, totaling over 100 works.

Arranged by location, the exhibition explores Monet's depictions of the Grand Canal, Palazzo Contarini, San Giorgio Maggiore, and Palazzo Ducale. Visitors are encouraged to observe the subtle variations Monet captured in his repeated views of these sites. The show concludes by connecting his Venetian experience to his later waterlily series, suggesting Venice's light and water inspired him to continue the project after he had previously considered abandoning it.

This exhibition marks the most extensive collection of Monet's Venetian paintings since their initial exhibition in 1912. The de Young Museum's co-curator, Melissa Buron, envisioned the show after being inspired by one of Monet's Grand Canal paintings already in the museum's collection.