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Canaletto

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Canaletto
Born
Giovanni Antonio Canal

(1697-10-28)28 October 1697
Venice
Died19 April 1768(1768-04-19) (aged 70)
Venice
Nationality Venetian
EducationLuca Carlevaris
Known forLandscape art, etching
The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, painted 1730.

Giovanni Antonio Canal (28 October 1697 – 19 April 1768[1]) better known as Canaletto (Italian: [kanaˈletto]), was a Venetian painter of landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.

Early career

He was born in Venice as the son of the painter Bernardo Canal, hence his mononym Canaletto ("little Canal"), and Artemisia Barbieri. Bernardo Bellotto was his nephew and pupil. Canaletto served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother. He began in his father's occupation, that of a theatrical scene painter. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini, and started painting the daily life of the city and its people.

Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day, 1732.

After returning from Rome in 1719, he began painting in his topographical style.[2] His first known signed and dated work is Architectural Capriccio (1723, Milan, in a private collection).[1] Studying with the older Luca Carlevarijs, a moderately-talented painter of urban cityscapes,[2][3] he rapidly became his master's equal.

In 1725, the painter Alessandro Marchesini, who was also the buyer for the Lucchese art collector Stefano Conti had inquired about buying two more 'views of Venice', when the agent informed him to consider instead the work of "Antonio Canale... it is like Carlevaris, but you can see the sun shining in it."[4]

The Stonemason's Yard, painted 1726-30.

Outdoor painting

Much of Canaletto's early artwork was painted "from nature", differing from the then customary practice of completing paintings in the studio. Some of his later works do revert to this custom, as suggested by the tendency for distant figures to be painted as blobs of colour - an effect produced by using a camera obscura, which blurs farther-away objects.

However, his paintings are always notable for their accuracy: he recorded the seasonal submerging of Venice in water and ice.[5]

Early and late work

Canaletto's early works remain his most coveted and, according to many authorities, his best. One of his early pieces is The Stonemason's Yard (1729, London, the National Gallery) which depicts a humble working area of the city.

Later Canaletto painted grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the city's pageantry and waning traditions, making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colors. For these qualities, his works may be said to have anticipated Impressionism.

Work in England

This 1752 painting of Northumberland House in London is an example of Canaletto's work during his residence in England.

Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour, often through the agency of the merchant Joseph Smith (who was later appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744).

It was Smith who acted as an agent for Canaletto, first in requesting paintings of Venice from the painter in the early 1720s and helping him to sell his paintings to other Englishmen.[6]

In the 1740s Canaletto's market was disrupted when the War of the Austrian Succession led to a reduction in the number of British visitors to Venice.[7] Smith also arranged for the publication of a series of etchings of "capricci" (or architectural phantasies) (capriccio Italian for fancy) in his vedute ideale,[3] but the returns were not high enough, and in 1746 Canaletto moved to London, to be closer to his market.[2]

The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.

He remained in England until 1755, producing views of London (including the new Westminster Bridge) and of his patrons' castles and houses. His 1754 painting of Old Walton Bridge includes an image of Canaletto himself.

He was often expected to paint England in the fashion with which he had painted his native city. Overall this period was not satisfactory, owing mostly to the declining quality of Canaletto's work.[citation needed] Canaletto's painting began to suffer from repetitiveness, losing its fluidity, and becoming mechanical to the point that the English art critic George Vertue suggested that the man painting under the name 'Canaletto' was an impostor.

The artist was compelled to give public painting demonstrations in order to refute this claim; however, his reputation never fully recovered in his lifetime.[8]

After his return to Venice, Canaletto was elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763. He continued to paint until his death in 1768. In his later years he often worked from old sketches, but he sometimes produced surprising new compositions. He was willing to make subtle alternations to topography for artistic effect.[3]

Market

View of the Entrance to the Venetian Arsenal, by Canaletto, 1732.

His pupils included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Gabriele Bella, and Giuseppe Moretti. The painter, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison was a follower of his style.[5]

Joseph Smith sold much of his collection to George III, creating the bulk of the large collection of Canalettos owned by the Royal Collection. There are many examples of his work in other British collections, including several at the Wallace Collection and a set of 24 in the dining room at Woburn Abbey.

Canaletto's views always fetched high prices, and as early as the 18th century Catherine the Great and other European monarchs vied for his grandest paintings. The record price paid at auction for a Canaletto is £18.6 million for View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, set at Sotheby's in London in July 2005.

Works

  • Grand Canal, Looking East from the Campo San Vio (1723–1724), Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
  • Grand Canal, Looking Northeast from Palazo Balbi toward the Rialto Bridge (1723–1724)
  • Piazza San Marco (1723–1724)
  • Rio dei Mendicanti (1723–1724)
  • The Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge in the Background (1724–1725)
  • The Stonemason's Yard (mid to late 1720s), National Gallery, London
  • Doge Palace (1725)
  • Entrance to the Grand Canal: Looking East (1725)
  • Rio dei Mendicanti: Looking South (1725)
  • San Giacomo di Rialto (1725–1726)
  • Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di San Marco (1725)
  • The Grand Canal from Rialto toward the North (1725)
  • The Grand Canal near the Ponte di Rialto (1725)
  • View of the Grand Canal, (late 1720s), Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
  • The Piazzetta (1733–1735)
  • The Grand Canal at the Salute Church (1738–1742), Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
  • The Betrothal of the Venetian Doge to the Adriatic Sea (c. 1739), Pushkin Museum, Moscow
  • Capriccio: A tomb by a lagoon (1740s), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne[9]
  • Ruins of the Forum, Looking towards the Capitol (1742)
  • The River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral on Lord Mayor's Day (1746)
  • Westminster Bridge from the North on Lord Mayor's Day (1746)
  • London: The Thames and the City of London From Richmond House (1747)
  • Palazzo Ducale and the Piazza di San Marco
  • St Mark's Square
  • Bacino di S. Marco: From the Piazzetta (c. 1750), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne[10]
  • Greenwich Hospital from the north bank of the Thames (1750–1752)
  • S. Francesco Della Vigna: Church and Campo
  • Venice Viewed from the San Giorgio Maggiore
  • View of the Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute with Boats And Figures in the Foreground, Venice
  • View of the Grand Walk, vauxhall Gardens, with the Orchestra Pavilion, The Organ House, The Turkish Dining Tent And The Statue Of Aurora

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Pedrocco, Filippo (1995) Canaletto "Giunti". 48 pages. ISBN 88-09-76198-7.
  2. ^ a b c Macfall, Haldane. (2004) A History of Painting "Kessinger Publishing". 320 pages. ISBN 1-4179-4508-7.
  3. ^ a b c Tecco, Betsy Dru. (2004) How to Draw Italy's Sights and Symbols "The Rosen Publishing Group". 48 pages. ISBN 0-8239-6686-0.
  4. ^ J.G. Links, Canaletto and his patrons, Granada Publishing/Paul Elek Ltd., London 1977. p. 1.
  5. ^ a b Fletcher, C. A. and Spencer, T. (2005), Flooding and Environmental Challenges for Venice and Its Lagoon Cambridge University Press. 718 pages. ISBN 0-521-84046-5.
  6. ^ Morris, Edward. (2001) Public Art Collections in North-West England "Liverpool University Press". 192 pages. ISBN 0-85323-527-9.
  7. ^ Canaletto, Antonio. (1971) Views of Venice by Canaletto "Courier Dover Publications". 90 pages. ISBN 0-486-22705-7.
  8. ^ Eglin, John. (2001) Venice Transfigured: The Myth of Venice in British Culture, 1660-1797 "Palgrave". 272 pages. ISBN 0-312-23299-3.
  9. ^ "Capriccio: A tomb by a lagoon". National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, 1923. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Bacino di S. Marco: From the Piazzetta". National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, 1986. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
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