View of Venice 1929

Konstantin Gorbatov created this painting, View of Venice, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Here, we see Venice as a city of labor, rather than leisure. The artist depicts working boats, and working people, at the docks. The image emphasizes the everyday life of the city, not its famous monuments. Born in the Russian Empire, Gorbatov was educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, becoming a member of the avant-garde group, The Wanderers. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Gorbatov emigrated, first to Italy and then to Germany. He would have had a complicated relationship to state power; as an artist trained in the institutions of the Tsarist Empire who later fled the Soviet Union. His paintings can be seen as celebrations of pre-revolutionary Europe. To understand Gorbatov’s vision of Venice, we can consult historical archives, museum collections, and the biographies of artists who emigrated at this time. Art always reflects the circumstances of its making.