4001

“CARL MOLL “VENICE” VIEW FROM HOTEL GRAND CANALÉ MONACO” reads the inscription on the collection label on the back of this painting, which was formerly owned by the Austrian-American architect and interior designer Liane Zimbler. She recorded the motif and the precise position that Carl Moll chose for his view of Venice. From the terrace of the hotel near San Marco, he had a view of the expanse of sea from the Canale della Giudecca to the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore. An impression of great distance is created by the undulating, reflective surface of the water, which occupies almost two thirds of the square picture format. The posts set at intervals in the sea create a sense of depth, while simultaneously anchoring the orthogonal composition in the picture. The island appears as a streak of light on the horizon, where the diffused outlines of buildings stand out against the shimmering atmosphere of Venice. The sweeping impasto application of paint in his late work and the luminous, typically Venetian red and blue hues create an authentic impression of the picturesque scene in the glimmering air. The ensemble of the church's magnificent façade in nuanced shades of white is given an emblematic character in the blue-shaded contours of the red building. In keeping with Moll's impressionistic approach, what interested him most was the constant change and the play of colours of the elements of water, air, light and the unique architectural landscape of Venice. After Moll's earlier artistic periods as a co-founder of the Vienna Secession and as the director of the Miethke Gallery, the established artist, now over sixty years old, devoted himself in painterly freedom to his own vision of a luminous, emphatic use of colour.
(Cornelia Cabuk)