From the Calcina Hotel

In 1910 Cadell went to Venice. The strong light, reflections off the rippling canals and vivid colours of the Adriatic port keyed up Cadell’s existing impressionistic tendencies to a new pitch. It was in Venice that Cadell became a colourist. This is a view from the Pensione de la Calcina across the Zattere towards the island of La Guidecca. The use of the French window to frame a well-known view adds structure to the painting and contrast between the shaded interior and the brightly lit, colourful canal beyond. This, throughout the nineteenth century, had been a favourite pictorial device for artists, but had been particularly popular with the French fauve painters such as Matisse in the early twentieth century.