Piper first visited Venice as a young boy while travelling with his parents. He returned in 1954 and again over 1958-1960 to make sketches and notes for new paintings and illustration projects, including major commissions from the Arthur Jeffress Gallery and a celebrated revised anthology of Adrien Stokes’ Venice published in 1965. Created in 1961, Ce Pesaro, Venice comes directly from the artist’s family and has rarely been seen in public.

Stokes’ poetic commentary deeply inspired Piper in his exploration of Venice, captivated by the ‘blackness and whiteness’ created between the contrasting pale stone of the buildings against the illustrious canal. This imagery was something that Piper translated into his large-scale canvases, including Palazzo San Marco, Ca' d'Oro and Ca' Pesaro which utilise a predominantly dark and limited palette. In the present work, much of the ornate Baroque character of the Ca Pesaro has been omitted and Piper Instead chooses to focus on the brooding atmosphere and dominating presence of the architecture itself. The pillared façade is merely suggested by ethereal brushstrokes of white which slowly emerge from the darkened surroundings whilst a deep green strip of water (the only other colour featured) flows quietly along the lower edge of the canvas.

The bold, highly gestural marks scattered across the painting’s surface allude to another of Piper’s literary influences. John Ruskin’s impassioned text The Stones of Venice became key source material for the artist, closely examining the transformative effects of light and weather on city’s Gothic features. Here, Piper’s visual interpretation of this writing captures the ever-changing environment of the city. The impasto brush marks evoke a scene of wild winds and swirling mist weathering the building, whilst the Italian sun reflects off its polished stone pillars and architraves, highlighted by subtle flashes of detailing from the same white paint.