The title, Sargent and Venice, purposefully suggests the title of the previous fortunate exhibition “Turner and Venice”, that was held at the Museo Correr as well. The content is also similar, in fact it displays the drawings of a great artist portraying the historical center and the most picturesque views of the city. At this point the analogies are over, and not only for an obvious difference in style, but also because, as it wasn’t in the other exhibition, Sargent’s oeuvre in this case is compared with the production of local artists of the same period such as Luigi Nono and Giacomo Favretto. John Singer Sargent (Florence 1856 – London 1925) visited Venice for the first time in 1870, but at that time he was still a young boy, not initiated to the skills of art. He then comes back a second time in 1880 as a young artist. After these he will come back for about ten times, the last in 1913. In Venice he frequents the cosmopolitan and elegant society he often depicts in his paintings; as in “An Interior in Venice” painted in 1898, set in Palazzo Barbaro salon. Sargent could be compared to Giovanni Boldini, the elite celebrator, but he often showed a more mature and complete approach. Especially in his first Venetian production in fact we can find a special attention also to more popular subjects such as in the “Onion seller” or with the couple of “The Sulphur Match” which we can both date to 1882. This pictures are closer to the local tradition and the difficulties of living are stressed by the use of darker shades of color. The same gloominess you can find in the picture “Pavement of St. Mark’s” of the same year. Gradually colors started to become lighter and the line more fragmented, almost nervous, as in “La dogana” of 1904 – 1907 or in “The Salute” (1902-1907). The turning point in his career dates back to the beginning of 20th century and coincides with his decision to embrace a more modern style. Even then though Sargent always depended on the great tradition of impressionism, the attempt to capture sudden rays of light on the canvas. Working “en plein air”, at times seating on a boat drawing the Salute church in an unusual perspective, seen from one of its angles as the oil painting’s title suggests “Corner of the church of San Stae” (1913). Warren Adelson, Elisabeth Oustinoff and Giandomenico Romanelli curated the exhibition. It is mainly centered on Sargent’s watercolor painting, some fifty of them, constituting almost one third of his total body of works with this technique.