Paul H. Tilton (active about 1885 - 1895, Venice)
The Lido, 1894
Oil on canvas, 15 x 38 cm (5 7/8 x 14 15/16 in.)
This horizontal oil on canvas shows a long expanse of sandy beach, which fills the lower center and right of the painting and is edged by lapping waves on the lower left. The light blue sky, filled with dark cumulus clouds, covers the top half of this work. The artist’s perspective is looking up the beach where a lone, indistinct figure in pants and a hat stands impassively. Sailboats dot the horizon in the distance. A low mound of sandy land studded with beach grass rises slightly in the mid right, behind which, in the distance, the bow of a large boat, possibly a ship, is glimpsed. A few white seagulls fly close to the water and lend lighter touches to this somber day.
Vatichino
Commentary
In 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.