| ART “4”
“2”-DAY 18
October |
| BIRTH:
1697 CANALETTO |
| ^
Born on 18 October 1697: Giovanni
Antonio Canal “Canaletto”, Italian painter
who died on 20 April 1768. |
| In
1720, the artist’s name is first recorded in the register of the Venetian
painters’ guild. Venice had a tradition of public exhibitions, at which
painters, especially beginners, could promote their work. Canaletto is recorded
as having hung a view of the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (probably
Santi
Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di San Marco) at the annual display
of paintings organized outside the Scuola di San Rocco. His work was said
to have ‘made everyone marvel’, and it was purchased by the Imperial Ambassador
to Venice. The exhibition itself was later depicted by the artist in the
background of his portrayal of the Doge procession The
Doge Visiting the Church and Scuola di San Rocco. After his success at the public exhibition, Canaletto was commissioned to paint four works for the merchant Stefano Conti (1725). Patrons such as Conti were important to Canaletto at the outset of his career, but it was English collectors who came to dominate the market for his view paintings. According to the fashion of the time it was considered that an essential part of good education and cultivation for the young English gentleman was to travel to Italy and visit the famous places of Rome, Florence and Venice. Of course, such travel also involved bringing home some refined souvenirs, and Canaletto tried to meet this demand. Canaletto’s earliest work for the ‘English market’ came to him as a result of his contact with an Irishman called Owen McSwiney (c.1684-1754). Their acquaintance took place in 1720s, at least the first documentary mention of paintings, commissioned by Owen McSwiney, referred to 1826. McSwiney not only introduced Canaletto to English customers, but seems also to have encouraged the painter to create works which might particularly appeal to them. The most important person in Canaletto’s career and his patron was Joseph Smith (c.1674-1770), an Englishman, who lived in Venice, and worked as an agent on behalf of British collectors of manuscripts, books and works of art; he also served as British Consul to the Venice Republic (1744-1760; 1766). He had a notable collection of his own. This collection in 1762-3 was sold to King George III, by that time it included the largest single group of works by Canaletto ever assembled. In the 1730s, the demand for Canaletto’s work was so large that Canaletto employed studio assistants. Canaletto’s father probably helped him, and certainly Canaletto’s nephew Bernardo Bellotto (1720-80), who at the time was trained in his studio. In 1735, a set of engravings was published by Antonio Visentini after Canaletto’s paintings in Smith’s collection, called the Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum, which also included the portrait of the artist, now considered the only reliable one. Canaletto's nephew, Bernardo Bellotto, expertly mimicked his style and even adopted the nickname "Canaletto" for himself. This has made it difficult to attribute individual paintings to one artist or the other. In 1741, the War of the Austrian Succession broke out, which consequently undermined the tourist business; this meant that the artist’s was loosing his principal source of patronage. In addition, perhaps for the first time, Canaletto experienced some serious competition. Canaletto tried to expand the variety of his subjects. In 1740-41, he traveled along the Brenta Canal towards Padua, and made a number of drawings, which were to form the basis of etching and paintings. In 1742 Canalletto painted for Smith a series of five large paintings of ancient Roman ruins: Rome: the Arch of Constantine — Rome: Ruins of the Forum, looking towards the Capitol — Rome: The Arch of Septimius Severus — Rome: The Arch of Titus. In 1746 Canaletto arrived in London; he worked in England intermittently until 1755. His first works in England were the views of the Thames and the recently completed Westminster Bridge: London: Westminster Bridge from the North on Lord Mayor's Day — London: Seen through an Arch of Westminster Bridge. Canaletto’s loyal agents Smith and McSwiney provided the artist with introduction to important patrons in London. Thus, through Smith’s assistance Canaletto was introduced to the Duke of Richmond, and some of the works Canaletto later painted for this patron: London: Whitehall and the Privy Garden from Richmond House — London: the Thames and the City of London from Richmond House are widely considered his greatest achievements while in England. Later Canaletto painted subjects outside London – for example, the country homes of the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Northumberland: Warwick Castle: the East Front. London: Northumberland House. Canaletto returned briefly to Venice in 1751 (and may also have traveled home again in 1753), but then remained in England up until 1755. Among the important works from this period are a series of capricci for the Lovelace family: Capriccio: River Landscape with a Column, a Ruined Roman Arch, and Reminiscences of England and a group of 6 pictures, which were painted for Thomas Hollis. In 1755 the artist returned to Venice permanently. His last years in Venice from 1756 onwards were not as artistically noteworthy. Many of his later pictures were based on compositional and technical formulae worked out some years before. However, there are a few exceptions deserving attention: The Grand Canal Looking Down to the Rialto Bridge, The Campo di Rialto, The Vigilia di S. Pietro and The Vigilia di S. Marta, all four works were painted for the German patron Sigmund Streit; and the pair of views of the Piazza San Marco in the National Gallery, London: Piazza San Marco: Looking East from the North-West Corner; Piazza San Marco: Looking East from the South-West Corner. In 1763 Canaletto was finally elected to the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts. His admission had been rejected previously, probably because view painting was not highly regarded by academicians. The artist’s reception piece Capriccio: Capriccio of Colonade and the Courtyard of a Palace was completed almost two years later. The very last of Canaletto’s dated works is the drawing San Marco: the Crossing and North Transept, with Musicians Singing. Canaletto died of a fever. ^ — LINKS — From his name you can correctly guess one of his favorite subjects (and I spare you some): — Grand Canal from Palazzo Flangini to Palazzo Bembo (1740, 61x92cm; 796x1200 pix, 582kb — ZOOM to 1327x2000pix, 1756kb) _ Painted from a vantage point near the present-day railroad station, this placid scene shows where the Grand Canal in Venice begins to curve toward the east. Many of the palaces and monuments pictured here still stand, including the Palazzo Flangini (the first building in the left foreground) and the adjacent Scuola dei Morti. Behind them the cupola of the church of San Geremia can be found. The Palazzo Correr Contarini stands midway down the left bank, which is visible as far as the Palazzo Gritti (now a hotel) and concludes with the church of San Marcuola. — Grand Canal: Looking East, from the Campo San Vio (1725) — Grand Canal: Looking North-East from the Palazzo Corner-Spinelli to the Rialto Bridge. (1725) — Entrance to the Grand Canal (1725). — Entrance to the Grand Canal from the Piazzetta (1727) — Grand Canal: the Rialto Bridge from the South (1727) — Grand Canal: The Stonemason's Yard; Santa Maria della Carità from the Campo San Vidal (1728) — The Grand Canal from Campo S. Vio towards the Bacino (1730) — Santa Maria della Salute Seen from the Grand Canal (1730) — A Regatta on the Grand Canal (1732) _ The picture showing traditional Venetian ceremony is from a series of 14 views of the Grand Canal painted by Canaletto and engraved by Antonio Visentini (published in 1735). — The Grand Canal from Campo S. Vio towards the Bacino (1732, 46x78cm) — Grand Canal: from Santa Maria della Carità to the Bacino di San Marco — Entrance of the Grand Canal: from the West End of the Molo (1738) — Grand Canal: Looking South-West from the Chiesa degli Scalzi to the Fondamenta della Croce, with San Simeone Piccolo (1738) — Entrance to the Grand Canal: Looking East (1744) — Grand Canal: Looking South-East from the Campo Santo Sophia to the Rialto Bridge (1756) — The Grand Canal Looking Down to the Rialto Bridge (1761) — Veduta del Canal Grande da palazzo Balbi verso Rialto (1722, 144x207cm) _ Quando, all’inizio del terzo decennio, Canaletto dipinge le prime vedute veneziane è ancora fortemente influenzato dalla lezione di Marco Ricci. Nella veduta del Canal Grande affiorano i toni brunacei della tradizione riccesca; le figurette sono piccole, piuttosto generiche, ma colte in posizioni estremamente vivaci. Memore della sua precedente attività di scenografo, Canaletto si serve di due diverse fonti di luce sul primo piano, al punto che sulle acque del Canal Grande si proiettano contemporaneamente sia le ombre di palazzo Balbi, a sinistra, che quelle delle case dei Mocenigo a destra. — Ingresso del Canal grande (1730, 50x73cm) _ Già alla fine degli anni Venti, Canaletto è ormai il più abile e più pagato pittore di vedute di Venezia, e grazie alla mediazione di Joseph Smith si è conquistato anche la ricca clientela di oltremanica disposta a pagare per un suo quadro qualsiasi cifra di denaro. Egli ha infatti compreso che alle vedute inquiete del primo periodo, il pubblico preferisce vedute di una Venezia luminosa, animata, descritta con lenticolare e minuziosa cura. In questa veduta del Canal Grande Canaletto delinea ogni particolare architettonico, ogni dettaglio delle imbarcazione, animate da figurette intente alla più diverse attività. Per descrivere le prospettive con rigorosa precisione l’artista si serve di uno strumento ottico, la camera oscura, che permette di studiare una veduta inquadrandola con un gioco di lenti. Questa viene utilizzata da Canaletto per eseguire schizzi e disegni che poi il pittore riassembla e rielabora in studio. — Canal grande verso nord con le Fabbriche di Rialto (1727, 45x61cm) _ Il successo arriva improvviso e nel giro di pochi anni il Canaletto diventa il vedutista più ricercato di Venezia, ma la sua definitiva consacrazione avviene quando il pittore entra in contatto con Owen McSwiney, un irlandese riparato nella città lagunare dopo le sue fallimentari attività di impresario teatrale a Londra. Su consiglio di McSwiney collabora con altri pittori a un ciclo di dipinti raffiguranti monumenti funebri immaginari, dedicati a insigni personaggi della storia inglese, per il duca di Richmond. Per lo stesso committente esegue inoltre due piccole vedute su rame, nelle quali il Canaletto abbandona i modi drammatici, fortemente chiaroscurati della fase giovanile, preferendo toni più luminosi che esaltano la resa dei particolari della veduta e delle architetture che la compongono. — The Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge in the Background (1725, 146x234cm) — The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute (1730) _ detail — The Grand Canal at the Salute Church (1740, 121x151cm) — Capriccio: the Grand Canal, with an Imaginary Rialto Bridge and Other Buildings (1745) — Venice: the Grand Canal from the Palazzo Foscari to the Carita — The Stonemason's Yard (1728, 124x163cm) _ Giovanni Antonio Canal's popularity with English Grand Tourists - mainly young noblemen completing their education with an extended trip to the Continent - has meant that many more of his pictures can be found in Britain than in his native Venice or even throughout Italy. Trained as a scene painter, by 1725 he was specialising in vedute - more or less topographically exact records of the city, its canals and churches, festivals and ceremonies. He visited England several times, but his English paintings did not please, and he returned home for good in about 1756. Although we associate Canaletto for the most part with mass-produced, crystal-clear scenes of celebrated sights, The Stonemason's Yard, his masterpiece, is not of this kind. A comparatively early picture, and almost certainly made to order for a Venetian client, it presents an intimate view of the city, as if from a rear window. The site is not in fact a mason's yard, but the Campo San Vidal during re-building operations on the adjoining church of San Vidal or Vitale. Santa Maria della Carità, now the Accademia di Belle Arti, the main art gallery in Venice, is the church seen across the Grand Canal.The Church of Santa Maria della Carità is still flanked by the slender campanile that collapsed in 1741. Canaletto's later works are painted rather tightly on a reflective white ground, but this picture was freely brushed over reddish brown, the technical reason for the warm tonality of the whole. Thundery clouds are gradually clearing, and the sun casts powerful shadows, whose steep diagonals help define the space and articulate the architecture. Not doges and dignitaries but the working people and children of Venice animate the scene and set the scale. In the left foreground a mother has propped up her broom to rush to the aid of her fallen and incontinent toddler, watched by a woman airing the bedding out of the window above and a serious little girl. Stonemasons kneel to their work. A woman sits spinning at her window. The city, weatherbeaten, dilapidated, lives on, and below the high bell-tower of Santa Maria della Carità it is the little shabby house, with a brave red cloth hanging from the window, which catches the brightest of the sunlight. — View of the Arch of Constantine and Environs, Rome (1763 drawing, 20x32cm; full size) — La Torre di Malghera (etching 29x42cm; 2/3 size) — 27 prints at FAMSF |
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