View of Venice. Santa Maria della Salute

Masłowski painted this View of Venice in 1921 on oak panel, a support that signals an intention toward permanence and careful finish. Venice had drawn Northern European painters for centuries — its light, water reflections, and architectural grandeur offered subjects unavailable in more landlocked regions. The Church of Santa Maria della Salute, completed in 1687 as a votive offering after a plague, was among the city's most painted landmarks, its distinctive dome featured in works by Canaletto, Turner, and Monet. For Masłowski, a Polish painter working in the Post-Impressionist era, Venice represented both a pilgrimage site and a technical challenge: capturing the city's famously shifting light on a small, rigid support demanded concentrated observation. The 1921 date places this work in the aftermath of the First World War, a moment when European artists were returning to earlier subjects with renewed appreciation for beauty and continuity.

Working on oak panel, Masłowski benefits from a rigid, non-absorbent support that permits refined detail and smooth blending. The palette is characteristically Venetian — silvery blues, warm stone colours, and the soft greys of overcast Adriatic light. The Salute's dome is rendered with architectural precision, while water reflections beneath are handled with looser, more impressionistic strokes.