Korcula, wharf

Max Pollak

The Croatian island of Korcula (Corcula) is considered one of the most picturesque villages in the world. Korcula was once famous for its wooden shipbuilding, as depicted here. Like Whistler, Pollak often chose to illustrate the backstreets rather than the grandueur that most other artists depicted. This composition focuses on what was the backbone of the island for centuries, before tourism, leading the focus of the viewer to the skeletal structure of a ship, then a completed ship, fit with sails - then up the hill to the city and the mountains in the background.

Shipbuilders were called "kalafati" and were sent throughout the Adriatic and the Mediterraean to teach the craft, and even went as far the Americas in the 19th century. The town no longer produces these historic ships but it is still known as a maritime destination.