The legendary canals of Venice are illuminated beneath the sun's golden rays in this painting by French artist Antoine Bouvard. The exquisite oil captures a view of Doge's Palace and the looming columns of the Piazzetta di San Marco, some of the most distinctive architectural monuments in all of Venice. His undeniable talent for utilizing light and atmospheric effects is on full display, as he captures in a few swift brushstrokes the dynamic and expressive vistas of Venice.
Bouvard was born at St. Jean-de-Bournay in L’Isere, and later moved to Paris to study art and architecture at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts. He traveled extensively throughout southern Europe and the Mediterranean, and eventually developed a deep connection with the picturesque city of Venice. Scenes of the unique city became his most successful and sought after subject. So profitable was he in London and Paris with his Venetian views that he began painting under the pseudonym "Marc Aldine" in an effort to further expand his market. Bouvard had his first one-man exhibition at Gladwell & Company in 1928, where the exhibition’s most prestigious attendee, Queen Mary, purchased two of his works. Today, Bouvard’s picturesque paintings are highly collectible works that have made a significant impact among fine art connoisseurs.