Seeing Venice: An Eye in Love

by Frederick Franck

Take a luminous journey deep into the heart of hidden Venice, with Frederick Franck as your guide. His quietly evocative drawings and descriptions bring to vivid life the city of islands, La Serenissima, the Queen of the Sea, “that most human of cities,” Venice. Franck explores the exquisite nooks and crannies and unique people and places of Venice, providing an enlivening glimpse into a city he sees as a microcosm of creation, “an immense and living indoor and out­door studio.” “Venice is so much more than canals, bridges, gondolas. It is an unbroken sequence of ever-changing moods; festive, frivolous, elegiac and melancholy, forever foreign yet totally intimate.” — from Seeing Venice

127 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kaye]

Poet and essayist, Mark Doty, has made Bellotto’s Grand Canal, the subject for this exquisite little book. The painting of the grand canal in Venice is an absolute masterpiece, giving Doty much cause for reflection. The author has taken the painting and segregated different sections for closer scrutiny. Each page shows a piece of the painting in close up detail. At the beginning of the book, Doty reflects on all the elements in the picture: sky, buildings, people and their clothing, surfaces, shadows and much more. Doty also describes the differences in the city now and at the time of the painting. In his musings, it is easy to tell he is a poet. The words and phrases are lyrical and easily project the image to the reader.

When the dust jacket is removed and opened up, it is the complete rendering of Bellotto’s masterpiece. Covering the paper dust jacket is an additional jacket ,opaque in nature, giving the book a watery, almost haunting feel. This book is a delight to hold in the hands, a treasure to savor. Seeing Venice would be a wonderful gift for any art lover or arm chair traveler. Definitely 5***** in my opinion.

[Donna Azure · Rating 3 out of 5]

An insider's view of Venice through text & drawings.