Félix Ziem

Félix Ziem is the painter of Venice in golden light. His canvases show the lagoon, the Doge’s Palace, gondolas and sailing boats with bright sails, all floating in a warm haze of gold, blue and pink. He also painted Constantinople and the Bosphorus in the same shimmering way.

He was born in Beaune in Burgundy and trained first as an architect. In Marseille he met Adolphe Monticelli, then moved to Paris and joined the Barbizon painters. He visited Venice almost every year for decades, and travelled to Istanbul and Egypt. He was very successful in his lifetime, was made an officer of the Legion of Honour, and later worked also in Martigues in Provence, where there is now a Musée Ziem.

Constantinople and Bateaux sur le Bosphore show his eastern subjects. Look at the thick, glowing paint of the sky and water.