TEFAF's Love Letters to Venice

One of the grandest love letters to the city of Venice can be found at The European Fine Arts Fair (TEFAF) 2026. Though a month has passed since the event, conversation and sharing of impressions of those who have had the chance to attend continue to stir. Through painting and illustration, the highly anticipated annual art fair walked its patrons through squares, canals, and centuries. It became a beguiling invitation to those who have never been, and a chance to fondly remember for those who have. It is an ode to the city’s silk and warmth, humming the melody of gondolas gliding through soft waters and sun-drunk footsteps on ancient tiles. By recalling a small selection of the many, many artful dedications to the city, I invite you, for a minute, to wander TEFAF and meet Venice through its eyes.

Francesco Guardi

Piazza San Marco, looking east, with Saint Mark’s Basilica and the Campanile, c. 1762/1765

Oil on canvas

46,5 cm x 64,5 cm

Few are capable of reflecting the timeless grandeur of Venice with the acuteness and grace equal to that of Francesco Guardi. In Galerie Eric Coatalem rests one of the city’s most iconic viewpoints— the Saint Mark’s Square. Though the scene was greatly favoured by countless painters of Guardi’s time, his vision remains one of the most noteworthy. Merely by glancing at the artwork, Venice is felt: the silk of gowns, lively figures, and the sharpness and gold which compose the square’s architectural marvels. The city becomes distinct and intricate beneath the softness of clouds, and Guardi’s hand skillfully depicts both the sun’s glare and the shadow’s respite. Alongside the many elegant portraits and delightful sceneries the gallery has to offer, Guardi’s work inspires with its dedication to capturing the city’s sovereignty and splendour.  

Rubens Santoro (1859 - 1942) 

Rio San Barnaba, Venice, c. 1900

Oil on canvas 

43 x 33 cm

Upon entering the Macconnal-Mason Gallery, you will find yourself in awe with the many glimpses it offers into the 19th and 20th centuries, and you will likely linger there for many, many minutes. Vivacious palettes and precise brushstrokes devise singing forests and rapturous seas, Parisian avenues and Viennese flower shops that feel equally real and dreamy. And among them lies this. The painting’s small size and placement below one’s line of sight in the gallery is illustrative of Santoro’s choice of Venetian scenery- it calls the eye by capturing the charm existing not in the city’s grandest squares or palaces, but in its quieter, homelier streets. It is there that one can truly sense the softness of the turquoise waters and the small patches of shade where one can take shelter from the scalding sun. Away from the crowds and bustling marketplaces, Santoro reveals pale-faced houses and drowsy passersby telling of Venice’s undying loveliness on an ordinary summer afternoon. 

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer

La Salute à Venise, c. 1912

Oil on canvas

56 x 71.5 cm

Lastly, in its palm, Stair Sainty Gallery holds a city made of dreams. A brief conversation with one of the kind gallerists revealed that the artist wished to portray Venice in its sleepy hours, when the sun paves way to moonlight and the city’s soul turns visible in the mist upon its waters. He masterfully manipulated oil paint to create an impression of the more effortless pastels, resulting in faded reflections, the ghost of moon, and mysterious, dream-like textures. The painting shows a nocturnal side of Venice— the handful of hours during which the city sheds its skin of gold and grandeur, revealing lonesome streets and the melody of rippling waters which are lost in the bustle of the awake world. This unique atmosphere is known only to those who dare to stay up and wander a little longer than they should.