Venice, Ponte San Pietro by Max Pollak
Venice, Ponte San Pietro
Max Pollak
Title
Venice, Ponte San Pietro
Artist
Max Pollak
1886 - 1970 (biography)Year
c. 1915
Technique
etching
Image Size
5 1/4 x 6 3/18" platemark
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
not stated, presumed under 10
Annotations
pencil titled lower left; red Friedl Pollak Collection stamp in lower left sheet corner, recto.; "Made in Austria" ink stamped on verso
Reference
Paper
cream wove vellum paper
State
proof
Publisher
artist
Inventory ID
22674
Price
$400.00
Description
Max Pollak, like many other early 20th-century printmakers, pays homage to James Abbott McNeill Whistler, traveling to Venice, Italy, and recording the backstreets of the city.
This composition is abstracted, quickly drawn onto the plate emphasizing a gondola beneath the bridge. The bridge itself is cut in half, windows are implied, and an object intrudes into the lower left, like a Japanese print. The viewers are left to create the whole moment with their imagination.
This bridge is likely one connecting the Venetian island of San Pietro di Castello, formerly Olivolo. It is located in the Venetian Lagoon and forms part of the Castello sestiere. It is linked to the main islands of Venice by two bridges.