Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768),
commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
from the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
, considered an important member of the 18th-century
Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ''
vedute
A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''.
Origins
This genre ...
'', of
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and London, he also painted imaginary views (referred to as
capricci), although the demarcation in his works between the real and the imaginary is never quite clearcut.
[Alice Binion and Lin Barton. "Canaletto." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Jan. 2017] He was further an important
printmaker
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
using the
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
technique. In the period from 1746 to 1756 he worked in England where he painted many views of London and other sites including
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
and
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...
. He was highly successful in England, thanks to the British merchant and connoisseur
Joseph "Consul" Smith, whose large collection of Canaletto's works was sold to King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
in 1762.
[
]
Early career
He was born in Venice as the son of the painter Bernardo Canal
Bernardo Canal (1664, Venice - 1744, Venice) was an Italian painter; father of the famous painter, Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto. Although he earned his living as a theatrical scene painter, he is best known for his vedute; created un ...
, hence his mononym ''Canaletto'' ("little Canal"), and Artemisia Barbieri. Canaletto served an apprenticeship with his father and his brother of a theatrical scene painter. Having already taken part in designing sets for operas by Fortunato Chelleri
Fortunato Chelleri (originally: Keller, also: Kelleri, Kellery, Cheler) (May or June 1690 in Parma – 11 December 1757 in Kassel) was a Baroque Kapellmeister and composer.
Biography
Chelleri's father had emigrated from Germany to Italy; h ...
, Giovanni Porto Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
, and Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
, in 1718 Canaletto travelled to Rome. During his time in Rome he worked with his father producing the scenery for two operas by the composer Alessandro Scarlatti
Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera.
...
, ''Tito Sempronio Greco'' and ''Turno Aricino'' which were performed at the Teatro Catranica during the carnival season of 1720.
Canaletto was inspired by the Roman ''vedutista'' Giovanni Paolo Pannini
Giovanni Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the '' vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Panini is best known for his vistas of ...
, and started painting the daily life of the city and its people.
After returning from Rome in 1719, he began painting in his topographical style. His first known signed and dated work is ''Architectural Capriccio'' (1723, Milan, in a private collection). Studying with the older Luca Carlevarijs
Luca Carlevarijs or Carlevaris (20 January 1663 – 12 February 1730) was an Italian painter and engraver working mainly in Venice. He pioneered the genre of the cityscapes (''vedute'') of Venice, a genre that was later widely followed by artis ...
, a well-regarded painter of urban cityscape
In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...
s, he rapidly became his master's equal.
In 1725, the painter Alessandro Marchesini
Alessandro Marchesini (30 April 1664 – 27 January 1738) was an Italian painter and art merchant of the late-Baroque and Rococo, active in Northern Italy and Venice. He first trained in Verona with Biagio Falcieri and then with Antonio Cal ...
, who was also the buyer for the Lucchese art collector Stefano Conti, had inquired about buying two more 'views of Venice', when the agent urged him to consider instead the work of "Antonio Canale... it is like Carlevaris, but you can see the sun shining in it."
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 possibly produced by using a camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
, which blurs farther-away objects.
Also, his paintings are always notable for their accuracy, an example being his recording of the seasonal submerging of Venice in water and ice.
In particular his precise use of correct perspective has led experts in the past to believe that much of the detail in his paintings had been achieved by tracing the image off a camera obscura.
It is known that Canaletto owned a camera obscura, but several experts today are of the opinion that he may have taken some inspiration from it, rather than actually using it for accurate photorealistic tracing in preparation for his paintings.
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
''The Stonemason's Yard'' (formally known as ''Campo S. Vidal and Santa Maria della Carità'') is an early oil painting by Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto. It depicts an informal scene in Venice, looking over a temporary stonem ...
'' (, the National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
) which depicts a humble working area of the city. It is regarded one of his finest works and was presented by Sir George Beaumont in 1823 and 1828.
Later Canaletto painted grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace
The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...
. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the city's pageantry and waning traditions, making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colours. For these qualities, his works may be said to have anticipated Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
.
His graphic print ''S. A. Giustina in Prà della Vale'' was found in the 2012 Munich Art Hoard.
Work in England
Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
, first through the agency of Owen Swiny
Owen Swiny (Also spelled McSwiny, Swiney, MacSwiny or MacSwinny) (1676, near Enniscorthy, Ireland – 2 October 1754) was an Irish theatre impresario and art dealer active in London known for his work in popularising Italian opera in London ...
and later the banker Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
. It was Swiny in the late 1720s who encouraged the artist to paint small topographical views of Venice with a commercial appeal for tourists and foreign visitors to the city. Sometime before 1728, Canaletto began his association with Smith, an English businessman and collector living in Venice who was appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744. Smith later became the artist's principal agent and patron, acquiring nearly fifty paintings, one hundred fifty drawings, and fifteen rare etchings from Canaletto, the largest and finest single group of the artist's works, which he sold to King George III in 1763.
In the 1740s Canaletto's market was disrupted when the War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...
led to a reduction in the number of British visitors to Venice. Smith also arranged for the publication of a series of etchings of "capricci" (or architectural phantasies) ('' capriccio'' Italian for fancy) in his ''vedute
A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''.
Origins
This genre ...
ideali'', but the returns were not high enough, and in 1746 Canaletto moved to London, to be closer to his market.
Whilst in England, between 1749 and 1752 Canaletto lived at number 41 Beak Street in London's Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
district.
He remained in England until 1755, producing views of London (including several of the new Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side.
The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the H ...
, which was completed during his stay) and of his patrons' houses and castles. These included Northumberland House
Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London residence of the Percy family, who were the Earl ...
for Sir Hugh Smithson, Bt., who by marriage later became the 2nd Earl of Northumberland; and Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
for Lord Brooke, later 1st Earl of Warwick. Smithson was one of the commissioners of Westminster Bridge, and it is "not impossible" that he had encouraged Canaletto to come to England and record the beginning of the bridge's life. His 1754 painting of Old Walton Bridge
Old Walton Bridge is the name given to the first Walton Bridge built across the River Thames between Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton in Surrey, England (the latter then in Middlesex). The wooden bridge was completed in 1750, was painted by Canale ...
includes an image of Canaletto himself.
He was often expected to paint England in the fashion with which he had painted his native city. Canaletto's painting began to suffer from repetitiveness, losing its fluidity, and becoming mechanical to the point that the English art critic George Vertue
George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
Life
Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
suggested that the man painting under the name 'Canaletto' was an impostor. This may have been because Canaletto's nephew, Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...
, was also using his uncle's nickname; or more likely because the story had been spread by unscrupulous art dealers who had been passing off copies of Canaletto's own work and were anxious to see him return to Venice. Historian Michael Levey described his work from this period as "inhibited".
In order to refute this claim the artist, through an advertisement in a newspaper, invited "any Gentleman" to inspect his latest painting of St. James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...
at his studio in Silver Street (now Beak Street) off Golden Square
Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sout ...
; however, his reputation never fully recovered in his lifetime.
After his return to Venice, Canaletto was elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763 and appointed prior of the ''Collegio dei Pittori''. 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 alterations to topography for artistic effect.
Market
His students included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...
, Francesco Guardi
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...
, Michele Marieschi
Michele Marieschi or Michele Giovanni Marieschi, also Michiel (1696 - – 18 January 1744), also known as ''Michiel'', was an Italian painter and engraver. He is mainly known for his landscapes and cityscapes (''vedute''), or views, mostly ...
, Gabriele Bella
Gabriele Bella (1730-1799) was an Italian Baroque painter.
Not much is known about Bella other than through his works. He lived and worked around Venice. He primarily painted buildings and city life.
Sixty-seven canvasses by Gabriel Bella are par ...
, and Giuseppe Moretti
Giuseppe Moretti (3 February 1857 – February 1935) was an Italian émigré sculptor who became known in the United States for his public monuments in bronze and marble. Notable among his works is '' Vulcan'' in Birmingham, Alabama, which is ...
. The painter, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (16 June 1762 – 24 August 1844) was an itinerant Italian painter of frescoes, landscapes, vedute, capriccios and some religious works.
Biography
He was born in Palmanova. When he was still a boy, his family moved to ...
was a follower of his style.
Joseph Smith sold much of his collection to George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, creating the bulk of the large collection of works by Canaletto owned by the Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
. In 1762, George III paid £20,000 for Consul Smith's collection of 50 paintings and 142 drawings. There are many examples of his work in other British collections, including several (19) at the Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...
and a set of 24 in the dining room at Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...
. A large set of Canaletto works was also part of the collection of the Earls of Carlisle
Earl of Carlisle is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England.
History
The first creation came in 1322, when Andrew Harclay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, Andrew Harclay, 1st Baron Harclay, was made Earl of Carlisle. He h ...
, however many were lost at the 1940 fire of Castle Howard
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...
and others were sold over the last century. Among those formerly at the Carlisle collection are ''The Bacino di San Marco: looking East'', now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (sold in 1939) and the pair ''Entrance to the Grand Canal from the Molo, Venice'' and ''The Square of Saint Mark's, Venice'', now at the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
, Washington DC (sold in 1938). The last important venetian ''veduta'' at Castle Howard was by Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...
, ''A View of the Grand Canal Looking South from the Palazzo Foscari'', which was sold at Sotheby's in July 2015 for £2.6 million.
Canaletto's views always fetched high prices, and as early as the 18th century Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
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
Palazzo Balbi is a palace on the Canal Grande, Venice, northern Italy. It is included in the ''sestiere'' (quarter) of Dorsoduro, to the right of Ca' Foscari. Currently it is the seat of the President of the Veneto region and of the regional cou ...
to the Rialto'', set at Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
in London in July 2005.
See also
* List of works by Canaletto
* Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...
, also known as "Canaletto" in Germany and Poland, was Canaletto's nephew and pupil
References
External links
*
Web Gallery of Art
The Canaletto Foundation
More than 335 images of Canaletto's paintings.
*
Canaletto
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
{{Authority control
Italian landscape painters
Italian etchers
Painters from Venice
1697 births
1768 deaths
Italian male painters
Italian vedutisti
Cityscape artists
Republic of Venice artists
18th-century Venetian people
18th-century Italian painters
Catholic etchers
Catholic painters
18th-century Italian male artists