Riva degli Schiavoni, No. 2

Frank Duveneck, Riva degli Schiavoni, No. 2, 1880, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1978.14
Copied Frank Duveneck, Riva degli Schiavoni, No. 2, 1880, etching on paper, plate: 13 1⁄4 × 8 5⁄8 in. (33.6 × 22.0 cm) sheet: 19 5⁄8 × 12 in. (49.8 × 30.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1978.14
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Riva degli Schiavoni, No. 2
Artist
Date
1880
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
plate: 13 1⁄4 × 8 5⁄8 in. (33.6 × 22.0 cm) sheet: 19 5⁄8 × 12 in. (49.8 × 30.5 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
etching on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture — boat
  • Figure group
  • Cityscape — wharf
  • Cityscape — Italy — Venice
  • Cityscape — street — Riva degli Schiavoni
Object Number
1978.14
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1978.14

Artwork Description

The Riva degli Schiavoni, pictured in several paintings and prints in this exhibition, was the de facto front porch for Venice: a wide promenade offering views across the lagoon toward the Adriatic Sea. Increased tourism spurred the conversion of many of the Riva's waterfront tenements into guest houses and elegant hotels. James Whistler, Frank Duveneck, and several of their comrades found affordable rooms here at Casa Jankowitz. From its upper rooms, they made scores of drawings, prints, and paintings. For this view looking west, Duveneck created a preliminary drawing and reversed it in his plate, so that the printed view is topographically accurate.

Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano, 2021.