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Canaletto

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Canaletto

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Canaletto
(born Oct. 18, 1697, Venice, Republic of Venice — died April 20, 1768, Venice) Italian painter and etcher. He was trained in the studio of his father, a theatrical scene painter. From 1719 to 1720 he worked in Rome, painting scenes for operas, until he turned to painting topographical images. After his return to Venice, he produced the picturesque views (vedute) that would bring him international fame. His pictures provide dramatic views of Venetian architecture and demonstrate skill in rendering sunlight and shadow. In the 1730s he was kept busy meeting foreign visitors' demand for souvenir views of Venice. When the War of the Austrian Succession made foreign visitors scarce, he expanded his output to include imaginative views of Roman ruins, and in 1746 he went to England to paint views of London and the great English country houses. In 1763 he was elected to the Venetian Academy. The most famous topographical painter of the 18th century, he influenced succeeding generations of landscape artists. He is not to be confused with his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, also known as Canaletto.

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Art Encyclopedia:

Canaletto

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(b Venice, 17 Oct 1697; d Venice, 10 April 1768). Italian painter, etcher and draughtsman. He was the most distinguished Italian view painter of the 18th century. Apart from ten years spent in England he lived in Venice, and his fame rests above all on his views (vedute) of that city; some of these are purely topographical, others include festivals or ceremonial events. He also painted imaginary views (capriccios), although the demarcation between the real and the invented is never quite clearcut: his imaginary views often include realistically depicted elements, though in unexpected surroundings, and in a sense even his Venetian vedute are imaginary. He never merely re-created reality. He was highly successful with the English, helped in this by the British connoisseur JOSEPH SMITH, whose own large collection of Canaletto's works was sold to King George III in 1762. The British Royal Collection has the largest group of his paintings and drawings.

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Biography:

Canaletto

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The Italian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (1697-1768), is known for his scenes of 18th-century Venice, executed with accuracy, precision, and Iuminosity.

Canaletto and Francesco Guardi between them created the image the world has held of Venice from the late 18th century to the present day. Guardi romanticized what he saw, but Canaletto did not. One of the many Englishmen who visited Venice in the 18th century said that Canaletto's excellence lay in painting things that fell immediately under his eye. What falls under the eye in Venice, then as now, is romantic enough. The buildings, built along canals instead of streets, seem to rise up out of the lagoon as if suspended between earth and water. From a distance, domes and towers appear to float. The colorful crowds that throng the main squares give Venice the air of being continuously in carnival. Canaletto painted his views not for Venetians but for foreign visitors, above all for the rich Englishmen taking the grand tour.

Canaletto was born in Venice on Oct. 18, 1697. He was trained by his father, Bernardo Canal, as a designer of stage sets. Most of the theatrical productions of the period called for sets representing palace interiors or palace gardens. Such scenes usually involved an intricate recession of pillars, pediments, porticoes, balustrades, and garden statues, and thus to execute them required a knowledge of the complexities of architectural perspective.

In 1719 Canaletto gave up designing stage sets and went to study in Rome. The following year he was back in Venice, where he was inscribed as a member of the painters' guild. From then on he was busy painting views of his native city. His most important patron was the English consul, Joseph Smith, who bought large numbers of Canalettos for resale to his countrymen.

Canaletto constructed his views of Venice with painstaking care. Usually he drew the scene on the spot and then made more detailed studies in his studio. These studies were then transferred to the canvas with the help of lines cut into the prepared surface as guidelines for columns, cornices, arches, and domes. We also know that Canaletto used the camera obscura, a darkened box or chamber in which the view is caught and reflected by lenses and mirrors onto a sheet of drawing paper so that the artist can render the perspective lines accurately simply by tracing the contours of the reflected image.

Pleased by his success with the English, Canaletto went to England in 1746. He stayed there off and on for a decade, but the results were disappointing. In Venice he had provided the English with scenes they considered exotic and picturesque, whereas in England he could provide them only with views of what they already knew.

Back in Venice, Canaletto continued to paint views for tourists. He also won acceptance from the Venetians themselves with a new form, the architectural caprice, in which famous landmarks were combined arbitrarily or (rarely in Canaletto's case) the architecture was invented altogether. With one of these as his reception piece he was finally admitted to the Venetian Academy in 1763. Five years later, on April 20, 1768, he died.

The Stonemasons' Yard gives a good idea of Canaletto's very early work. It is a Venice the tourist seldom sees, or tries not to remember: a view of disorder and poverty, of a vacant lot filled with stone and rubble, of gray buildings hung with damp laundry, of gray clouds closing off the sky. But it is also filled with gravity, dignity, and a sense of timelessness.

Far more typical are the sunlit scenes Canaletto painted so often of St. Mark's Square, the Ducal Palace, and the Grand Canal. In the best of these canvases the painted surfaces are beautifully modulated - the tan buildings touched with rose, and rose again in the blue of the sky. The open spaces come alive with festive clusters of bright little figures. These he brushed in broadly and made them sparkle with a scattering of white dots.

Under increasing pressure to turn out more and more paintings for the tourist trade, Canaletto took on assistants, who watered down his style. Many of his late canvases are overly rigid and dry.

Further Reading

The most complete study of Canaletto is W. G. Constable, Canaletto, Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768 (2 vols., 1962), but it is difficult and dry. For a more sensitive interpretation see F. J. B. Watson, Canaletto (1949). K. T. Parker, The Drawings of Antonio Canaletto … at Windsor Castle (1948), is the best book in its area. A brief but highly readable account of Canaletto appears in Michael Levey, Painting in XVIII Century Venice (1959).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia:

Canaletto

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Canaletto (känälĕt'tō), 1697-1768, Venetian painter, whose original name was Antonio Canal. He studied with his father, Bernardo Canal, a theatrical scene painter, and spent several years in Rome. Returning to Venice, he devoted himself to painting the linear, dramatic, and topographically accurate Venetian scenes upon which his fame chiefly rests. From 1746 to 1755 he lived in England and produced many fine landscapes, notably those of Eton College. He painted series of picturesque views for English collectors, one of which is in the collection of the Duke of Bedford. Canaletto is unsurpassed as an architectural painter. His works are finely detailed yet delicate and airy. Among his notable works are View on the Grand Canal and Regatta on the Grand Canal (National Gall., London); Church of Santa Maria Della Salute (Louvre); View of Venice (Uffizi); and The Piazzetta, Venice (Metropolitan Mus.). He was a master draftsman and produced many superb drawings and etchings that were not preparatory but complete in themselves. Examples of Canaletto's works are in the major European and American collections. His nephew and pupil, Bernardo Bellotto, was also called Canaletto.

Bibliography

See studies by V. Moschini (tr. 1956) and W. G. Constable (1961, 2d ed. rev. 1989).

Wikipedia:

Canaletto

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This is about the first and better known artist "Canaletto"; for his nephew and pupil, sometimes also called "Canaletto", especially in Poland and Germany, see Bernardo Bellotto.
Canaletto
Birth name Giovanni Antonio Canal
Born 28 October 1697(1697-10-28)
Venice
Died 19 April 1768 (aged 70)
Venice
Nationality Venetian
Field Landscape art, etching
Training Luca Carlevaris
Influenced by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
Influenced Bernardo Bellotto
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, was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.

Contents

Early career

He was born in Venice as the son of the painter Bernardo Canal, hence his mononym Canaletto ("little Canal"), and Artemisia Barbieri. His nephew and pupil Bernardo Bellotto was also an accomplished landscape painter, with a similar painting style, and sometimes used the name "Canaletto" to advance his own career, particularly in countries—Germany and Poland—where his uncle was not active.

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 famous 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 Carlevaris, a moderately-talented painter of urban cityscapes,[3][2] 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 of 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 finest early pieces is The Stonemason's Yard (1729, London, the National Gallery) which depicts a humble working area of the city.

Later Canaletto became known for his grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the city's famed 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 caprichios (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]

Popularity

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 (painter). 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

  • S. Francesco Della Vigna: Church And Campo
  • Venice Viewed from the San Giorgio Maggiore
  • Palazzo Ducale and the Piazza di San Marco
  • The Piazzetta (1733-1735)
  • The Grand Canal at the Salute Church (1738-1742)
  • 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
  • Grand Canal, Looking East from the Campo San Vio (1723 - 1724)
  • 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)
  • 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)

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.

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