A Canal at Venice
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Moune G.H. Webster
Accession Number
1974.85.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the serene *A Canal at Venice* (1921), Canadian-American artist Donald Shaw Maclan captures the timeless allure of Venice's watery labyrinth. This delicate drawing depicts a classic canal scene, complete with a gliding gondola, arched bridge, and gently bobbing boat, evoking the city's romantic, sun-dappled charm. Created just after World War I, the work reflects a period when artists flocked to Venice for inspiration, drawn to its shimmering light and architectural poetry amid Europe's fragile recovery. MacLaughlan, renowned for his precise yet atmospheric renderings of European landscape...
About the Artist
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan (1876–1938) was born on November 9 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, though he is recognized as an American artist after his family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. There, as a teenager, he immersed himself in the Boston Public Library's collections of old master prints, studying works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and eighteenth-century E...