Louis Haghe

with Frost & Reed, London

The Connoisseur, 1965, vol. 158, pp. 172-173, illustrated.

London, New Society of Watercolour Painters (possibly)

This watercolor by Louis Haghe is remarkable in both its size and meticulous depiction of Venice, from the Doge's Palace looking towards Santa Maria della Salute. The work was illustrated in an issue of The Connoisseur and described at length: Whoever acquires a picture of the Doge's Palace, Venice, by Louis Haghe (Frost & Reed, New Bond Street, W .I) will possess something extraordinary in watercolour painting. Not only is it enormous in size, but every square inch except the plain sky is full of detail, architectural, gondolas, water and merchants of Venice bartering their wares. Here is a marvel of the highly finished style and picturesque sentiment that appealed to the Victorian public. Dated 1856, this work may have been one of the tours de force that Haghe exhibited at the New Society of Watercolour Painters, now the Royal Institute, and is similar to a vast watercolour by the same artist as the Exterior of St. Peter's, Rome, from the Piazza, Sunset , presented many years ago tot he Bethnal Green Museum. (The Connoisseur, 1965, vol. 158, p. 172)

Born in Belgium, Haghe's father and grandfather were both practicing architects, which likely explains his predilection for urban views. He was already an accomplished artist when he arrived in London and immediately elected to the New Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1835, assuming the presidency in 1873 until 1884, a year before his death. He was also an accomplished lithographer and in 1830, together with William Day (1797-1845), formed the partnership Day & Haghe (which became Day & Son after William's death in 1845); in 1838 they were appointed Lithographers to the Queen and the firm became the most famous early Victorian lithographic printing company in London.