San Marco from the Piazetta 1913

Jules Schmalzigaug painted this impression of San Marco from the Piazetta, with what looks like very thick oil paint, sometime before 1917. It's like he's trying to capture a feeling, or a memory of a place, rather than its exact look. I mean, check out those dabs of color; reds, blues, yellows, all fighting for attention. There's a real energy there, a sense of movement and vibrancy. It almost looks like the whole scene is vibrating! The buildings are built up of thick layers of paint, blues and oranges that really make it sing! Look at the way he's handled the sky, those short choppy strokes give it a real sense of depth. To me, this painting shares a kinship with the early Fauvist painters like Vlaminck, who also used color to express feeling and emotion over accuracy. Ultimately, art is about seeing and experiencing the world in new and unexpected ways.