Carl Moll
(Vienna 1861–1945)
“Riva Schiavoni”, Venice, c. 1915, monogrammed CM, titled twice in pencil on the reverse of the stretcher Venedig (Riva Schiavoni) III, and IV Venedig, old label with no. 302, export stamp of the Hamburg customs office, oil on canvas, 66 x 60 cm, framed
Provenance:
Galerie Schebesta, Vienna
Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 18 September 1963, lot 368
Private Collection, Austria
by descent to the present owner
Compare:
Cornelia Cabuk, Carl Moll. Monografie und Werkverzeichnis, Belvedere Werkverzeichnisse, vol. 11, Vienna 2020, cat. rais. nos. GE 282-284
We are grateful to Dr. Cornelia Cabuk and Dr. Franz Smola, Belvedere for confirming the authenticity of this work and for the inclusion in the catalog raisonné under the no. GE 284 A.
The title of the painting – Riva Schiavoni - is somewhat misleading, as the most famous waterside promenade in the world is only identifiable in this light drunken painting by the great building of the Chiesa della Pietà seen in the distance. Carl Moll, who sojourned in Venice for several months in the years 1907, 1913 and 1922, may have been standing on the jetty of the Hotel Monaco, following the flow of the water, which, like a street lined with sailing boats, extends deep into the picture, past the Giardini Reali, and the Doge’s Palace, down to the sun-drenched buildings along the Riva. It is wonderful to see how the shape of the boats and the white gleaming balustrades are mirrored in the gentle swell of the water, how the warm sunlight adds a yellowish rinse to the delicate strands of cloud and lends a golden glow to the buildings.
