KEN HOWARD OBE RA
London 1932 - 2022 Cornwall
Ref: CL 3848
Reflections in the Piazza
Signed lower right: Ken Howard;
titled and dated 2003 on the stretcher
Oil on canvas: 20 x 24 in / 50.8 x 61 cm
Frame size: 26 ¾ x 30 ½ in / 67.9 x 77.5 cm
Provenance:
Richard Green, London, directly from the artist, November 2003;
Private collection, acquired from the above in 2004
Exhibited:
London, Richard Green, Ken Howard: Reflections, 18th February-10th March 2004, no.56, illus. in colour p.65
‘I believe Venice to be the most beautiful city in the world. So many painters have worked there including Corot, Boudin, Monet, Manet, Sargent, Sickert and Whistler, and all have said something different. Everyone should visit Venice at least once in their life, it is the only place I know where once can stand on one sport and see a composition at every turn. The light is magical, the architecture majestic and of course there are no cars. Venice is unique and will become more so as other cities become more and more alike.’ Ken Howard, 2016
This beautiful view looks from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana or Library of St Mark on the right to the Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s Palace on the eastern side of the Piazzetta San Marco. the fourteenth century, pink and white Palazzo Ducale decorated with allegorical sculpture exhorting the city leaders to justice and virtue.
The Piazzetta is bounded by columns with statues of St Theodore, the original patron saint of Venice, with the dragon he battled, and the lion of St Mark.
