Thomas Schütte at the Dogana, Venice

Bill and I love to discover new artists. We were pleased to discover François Pinault's collection of works by Thomas Schütte at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.

A monumental statue of Mother Earth confronts visitors at the entrance to the gallery. Pretty stern lady.

Man in the Wind, 2018. Schütte had trouble getting his maquette to stand up. He covered the feet and then liked the "stuck in the mud" look of the result. Nice accident.

An Old Testament look to this figure.

One of four Fratelli (Brothers) from 2012. It does have a 19th century Italian look.

A strange, monumental head, with a rope around its neck. He doesn't look pleased.

His heads don't look like anyone else's work.

Pinault has also been collecting works on paper.

Again, they don't look like anyone else's work.

Schütte commissioned the master glass makers of Murano to produce a series of portrait heads.

One of three figures with the title Three Truly Great Minds. They look to me like they were made from hand-rolled "snakes" of plasticine.

One of Schütte's experiments with minimalism. Definitely a tad creepy, no?

A traditional looking figure but lacking a face.He reminded Bill of a pétanque player.

The face of the artist, from a gallery documentary.

A gorgeous monumental ceramic head: Großer Frauenkopf (Large Woman's Head), 2021. Again the portrait reminds us a bit of 19th century art.

We took a traghetto to St Mark's Square. It was scary to be on a small craft in the wide mouth of the lagoon. 

We looked back at the Punta della Dogana. What a stunning location for a private gallery!