Sir James Jebusa Shannon, R.A., R.B.A. (1862-1923)

A rare endeavour on Shannon’s part, this view of San Giorgio Maggiore may have been painted in 1906 (the year the artist won a gold medal at the Venice International) or in 1912, when the Shannons enjoyed a three-week stay in the city during a summer-long motoring tour of the Continent. The smooth brushwork and monochromatic palette closely recall the nocturnes of his friend, the American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), who was an early supporter of Shannon’s art. Shannon once owned Whistler’s Blue and Silver: Trouville (Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC).