This work is a response to a Venetian view at a particular time of day - evening. It is one of four in a series which depict the same view at different times of day - morning, afternoon, evening and night. Each work varies enormously in colour and mood. The spontaneous, painterly quality of this work conceals a complex painting process, which is the result of close collaboration between the artist and specialist printer Jack Shirreff. It is printed from five plates on to sixteen sheets of paper, or 'fragments'. Hodgkin favours the use of etching, aquatint and carborundum (silicon carbide) within the printing process. Each print is finished with hand-painting. This creates the superb texture and tone that is so characteristic of his prints.