San Lorenzo River with the Campanile of San Giorgio dei Greci, Venice

Captivated by Venice, where he stayed regularly from the summer of 1873 and where he passed away in 1908, Martín Rico made the city the core of his production. His vedute, enriched with daily scenes among canals and buildings, achieved great commercial success in both the American market and Paris, thanks to his dealer Adolphe Goupil.

In this work, the presence of architecture takes a primary role, highlighting the campanile of the Greek Orthodox church of San Giorgio dei Greci, built in the 16th century on the banks of the Rio dei Greci (Canal of the Greeks).

Among the pictorial attractions Venice offered artists, the lagoon, the canals, and the city's historical architecture held a preeminent place.

The old urban landscape, marked by the testimonies of a lost past—where once-splendid manor palaces coexist with simple folk dwellings squeezed into the streets—appears in this work in great detail.

On the left bank, an imposing palazzo catches the eye with the characteristic Venetian Gothic windows that abound in the city.

Among the picturesque elements Martín Rico added to this beautiful Venetian view, the sight of a lady riding in a gondola through the canal certainly claims the viewer's attention, with her gondolier rowing while standing as she rests and peacefully contemplates the landscape.

This detail, a must-have for any portrayal of Venetian street life, is composed—like the rest of the work—with small, loose, and nervous brushstrokes. These vibrant touches of the brush blur the figures and capture the reflections of the water in a truthful and masterful way.

Alongside the virtuoso and preciosista style learned from his friend Mariano Fortuny, a subtle Impressionism encountered in Paris gradually filtered into Rico's work, manifesting especially in the final years of his career.

The canal called Rio dei Greci, a continuation of the Rio San Lorenzo seen in the foreground, flows into the famous Riva degli Schiavoni on the banks of the lagoon, which Martín Rico also portrayed.

It is a central space in the historical heart of Venice, and its streets buzz with the daily life of citizens walking, attending to their chores, or sheltering from the sun under improvised awnings.

The forms dissolve among the artist's Impressionist brushstrokes, but their rich coloring and movement compose a delightful scene that transmits the pulse of a lively and cheerful city on a splendid day with a clear, clean atmosphere.

The impression of animation and vivid sensory experience in the scene is reinforced by numerous elements of the composition: the wind blowing a curtain, the awnings, and the shawls of a pair of women walking.

Along with the water flowing in the canal, the figures crossing the bridge, leaning out of balconies, or busy in the streets provide a picturesque and realistic touch.

It is a meticulous observation of nature and a portrait made at street level by one of the best painters of Spanish Naturalism and a pioneer of the modern landscape.