The Canal 1887

Julius Leblanc Stewart made this painting, The Canal, using oil paint on canvas. Oil paint offers a smooth, luminous quality, allowing Stewart to capture the light reflecting off the water, and the mottled surfaces of the buildings. It is a traditional fine art material, and his technique is a relatively conventional one of painterly naturalism. But the image also tells us something about the wider world of work. Look closely and you’ll see children fishing in the canal. The buildings have signs of wear and tear; laundry is hanging out to dry. Stewart isn't showing us the Venice of the Grand Tourists, but rather a place where life is lived, and labor is necessary. The artist himself, an American, would have been something of an outsider. By focusing on the material qualities of paint, and how they help to depict the everyday, we can appreciate the social context that Stewart sought to capture. This reminds us that paintings, even those of beautiful places, are always the product of work, both by the artist and the people portrayed.