The Lido
painter
Paul H. Tilton
(active about 1885 - 1895, Venice)
Date1894
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions15 x 38 cm (5 7/8 x 14 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP33e14
eMuseum ID719635
EmbARK ObjectID35587
TMS Source ID18664
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn the 19th century, Venice’s beauty and otherworldliness attracted Isabella Stewart Gardner and many expatriate artists and writers. Isabella and her husband Jack purchased this painting from the painter Paul Tilton on their 1894 trip to the lagoon city. It depicts the Lido, an 11-mile long sandy island located southwest of the city in the Adriatic Sea. While it surely served as a memento for their trip, the waves, dunes, and passing ships universally evoke a beach anywhere in the world.
BibliographyNotesPhilip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 250. (as by the same hand as museum no. P11n1)
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), pp. 263, 276, fig. 214. (as by Paul Tilton, 1894)
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), pp. 263, 276, fig. 214. (as by Paul Tilton, 1894)
MarksNotesSigned and dated (lower right): P.H. Tilton - 1894
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John L. Gardner (1837-1898), from the American artist Paul H. Tilton (active about 1885-about 1895), Venice for 100 lire on 4 May 1895.
