Churches in Venice

I learned about this artist while reading Hugh Honour's Companion Guide to Venice (a fantastic book organized as a series of thematic walking tours).

Before he reached the church of San Sebastiano in Dorsoduro, Mr. Honour pointed out a red Gothic palazzo and said that it had been the home of artist Filippo de Pisis (1896-1956), "one of the few modern painters who has successfully caught the flicker of Venetian light." High praise indeed!

I was happy to find (via Google) many of de Pisis' paintings on the web. He was born in Ferrara, lived in Paris and Rome, and then spent most of the 1940's in Venice. Sounds like he was quite a character - he would set up his easel in the calli and campi, and paint with his pet parrot, Coco, sitting on his shoulder. He also owned his own gondola and employed a full-time gondolier.

He painted many Venetian scenes including a number of churches (and not only the most famous ones). I like his work a lot.

I posted his painting of the church of San Lorenzo here and a few more are below.

San Moise

San Pantalon

Santa Maria della Salute

Gesuati

Thanks so much to Bert for sending these photos of the palazzo where de Pisis lived. The plaque above the door says that the artist lived there from 1943-49. If anyone knows anything about the other degraded plaques on this house, please let us know!