The Venice Canals
Artist
Emil Kosa Jr.
(1903 - 1968)
Datec.1940
MediumWatercolor
Dimensions15 x 23 in. (38.1 x 58.4 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Drs. James L. and Lynne P. Doti
Object number2017.011
DescriptionVenice, a residential neighborhood of Los Angeles, was founded in 1905 by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney as an oceanside amusement area and resort town, “Venice of America” -- complete with a system of picturesque canals and the gondoliers who plied them. Most of the canals were paved over by 1929, when oil was discovered on the Venice Peninsula. Soon, more than 450 oil wells had sprung up in the area, and oil waste polluted the canals that were left. Some of the oil wells produced oil until the 1970s. Emil Kosa Jr., one of the most prominent California Scene painters – who also served as art director of 20th Century Fox’s special effects department for more than 30 years, winning an Oscar along the way – depicts just how industrial Venice appeared in 1940, its remaining canals lined by oil derricks.On View
Not on view
