Download or read book A Visitable Past written by Margaretta M. Lovell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1989-04-13 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this ambitious and imaginative study, Margaretta M. Lovell analyzes the large body of accomplished, sometimes startling, often brilliant work of American artists drawn to Venice's ragged splendor in the last century. Including major works by such diverse and talented painters as James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Maurice Prendergast, these richly varied paintings portray sleepy canals, architectural monuments, and scenes of picturesque everyday life while they also reveal surprising aspects of American culture.