Ups and Downs in Venice

by Leonhard Emmerling, curator of Judy Millar's Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

Venice has much more to offer than bridges, canals, gondoliere and the other tourist stuff we openly admit to enjoy.

You pass by a church and think it might be a good idea to spend some time in the chilly space inside, and you come across the most unbelievable works of art. In San Polo Giandomenico Tiepolo, the son of the more famous Giambattista, painted the Stations of the Cross as a young man, barely 20 years old. The cloister also contains a beautiful image of the ascending Christ and of angels hovering in the sky.

 

And just next to the door to the cloister you find one more beautiful and astounding Last Supper by Tintoretto. So it is not only the nice cold climate in the church, but also this beautiful discoveries that Venice offers all the time, which makes you go back to work quite uplifted and elevated.

Other people may be less uplifted these days. Rumour had it yesterday, that a boat had sunk close to the Arsenale, and a quick read in today’s newspaper confirmed this rumour. A boat, which carried a work by US American artist Mike Bouchet sank for unknown reasons just before it arrived at its final destination. The work was a house, modelled after middleclass houses one can find in American suburbs. It is quite a coincidence that the title of the work was “Watershed” and that it was intended to refer to the real estate hype that stood at the beginning of the global financial crisis that currently floods the entire world. We wish to convey our sincere empathy to the artist.

Back from Chiesa Maddalena on the Canal Grande, we saw this mysterious construction waiting on a boat to be lifted into the Peggy Guggenheim collection. It looked like an over-size reliquary. We have no clue what it could be – one more reason to visit the Peggy Guggenheim collection to find out.

 

Comments

Great blog - good to follow the progress.
Good luck and many regards

Ronnie van Hout

Brilliant post. Really enjoying being able to take part via your postings. Cheers, Jim and Mary