Title: San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk
Description: Saint-Georges majeur au crépuscule (Eng: Dusk in Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight or Sunset in Venice) is an Impressionist painting by Claude Monet completed between 1908 and 1912. It forms part of a series of views of the monastery-island of San Giorgio Maggiore begun in 1908 during his only visit to Venice. Monet felt Venice was a city "too beautiful to be painted", which may be why he returned with many paintings unfinished to Giverny, his home in France. However, he had already abandoned his earlier practice of painting from life, in front of the subject; instead he worked on the Venetian scenes at home. The death of his wife Alice in 1911 seems to have been a factor in their completion. In 1912 he held a successful exhibition at the gallery Bernheim-Jeune in Paris, where the painting was acquired by the Welsh art collector Gwendoline Davies.She bequeathed it to the Art Gallery (now National Museum Cardiff) in Cardiff, Wales. The piece is a life study view of San Giorgio Maggiore, focusing on the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, its bell tower, against the small island at sunset. To the right are the faintly visible domes of Santa Maria della Salute and the mouth of the Grand Canal.
Author(s): Claude Monet