Three Sketches of the Garden Behind the Redentore, Venice, Italy 1913

Curator: This work by Denman Waldo Ross is entitled "Three Sketches of the Garden Behind the Redentore, Venice, Italy" and it's currently housed in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Well, my first thought is this has a lovely ethereal quality. It feels very fleeting, like a captured memory. Curator: Exactly! The choice of watercolor lends itself to that ephemeral feeling. Water reflecting on water; it's the quintessential Venetian dream, isn't it? The light and fluidity mirror Venice's own state of constant change. Editor: Yes, the architecture reflected in the water creates this sort of double reality. The soft colors and the slight distortion make the scene almost otherworldly. The garden becomes a sanctuary, or perhaps a symbolic representation of earthly paradise. Curator: I think you've hit on something there. Ross was profoundly interested in harmony and balance. The garden, reflected, could be a symbolic expression of inner peace. A visual metaphor for spiritual reflection. Editor: It makes me think of how gardens often serve as liminal spaces, boundaries between the natural world and the human-made one. A very interesting perspective, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Indeed. It is as if Ross sought to capture not just a place, but a state of being—a momentary glimpse of Venice's soul.