Dimensions: support: 762 x 1022 mm
Copyright: © The estate of Stephen Bone | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Stephen Bone's "Little Venice," housed at the Tate. There's such a pervasive stillness to it. What do you see as the most compelling element in this composition? Curator: Note how the formal structure emphasizes a visual recession through carefully calibrated tonal values. The artist creates depth by modulating color intensity, strategically placing the brightest hues in the foreground. Editor: The muted palette really gives it this dreamlike quality. Curator: Indeed, and observe how the textures – the water, the buildings, even the figures – are rendered with a consistent, almost flattened brushstroke. How do you think that contributes to the overall effect? Editor: It almost feels like a memory being recalled. Thank you; I'll definitely look at it differently now.
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This is one of a large series of London views that Bone executed from the 1930s to the 1950s. Little Venice is located in West London, and so called because of its proximity to Regent's Canal. Bone liked to paint water and its reflections, and often combined this with compositions showing people going about their daily business, a combination which is the subject of this picture. A barge, hung with its owner's washing, travels along the canal. Two children play along the banks, and a man sits on the railings overhead, enjoying the view.Further reading:Stephen Bone, Albion: An Artist's Britain, London 1939Stephen Bone, exhibition card, Sally Hunter & Patrick Seale Fine Art, London 1986Terry RiggsNovember 1997
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