Canaletto

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This is about the first and better known artist "Canaletto"; for his pupil, the second, see Bernardo Bellotto.

The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, painted 1730.

The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.

Giovanni Antonio Canal (Venice, October 28, 1697 – April 19, 1768)Pedrocco, Filippo (1995) Canaletto "Giunti". 48 pages. ISBN 88-09-76198-7., better known as Canaletto, was a Venetian artist famous for his landscapes or vedute of Venice. He was a son of a painter Bernardo Canal, hence his nickname Canaletto. His nephew Bernardo Bellotto was also a landscape painter; he sometimes used the name of Canaletto to further his own career.

Early career

Canal was born in Venice on October 28, 1697 to Bernardo and Artemisia Barbieri and served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother. Along side beginning his career as a theatrical scene painter, which was his father's occupation, he was also pupil to Luca Carlevaris, a man known for his mediocre street representations compared to Canaletto's future scenes.Tecco, Betsy Dru. (2004) How to Draw Italy's Sights and Symbols "The Rosen Publishing Group". 48 pages. ISBN 0-8239-6686-0.Macfall, Haldane. (2004) A History of Painting "Kessinger Publishing". 320 pages. ISBN 1417945087. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini and started painting roman's daily life such as people, scenes and his surroundings. After coming back from Rome in 1719, he began painting in his famous topographical style. His first known signed and dated work is Architectural Capriccio (1723, Milan, in a private collection).

Much of Canaletto's early artwork, contrary to the custom of the time, were painted 'from nature' (rather than from sketches and studies of the scene taken back to be worked on in the artist's studio). Some of his later works do revert to this custom, hinted at 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. Differing from his predecessors which used the camera obscura to draw the scenes roughly and add details out of the imagination of the drawer, he was able to complete his artworks on site. Due to such fine reproductions of reality, his paintings gave insight in the flooding, submerging of Venice and ice and warming periods that date back to his era.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.

Canaletto's early works remained 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. In many ways, his works anticipated Impressionism.

Work in England

Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour, most notably 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.Morris, Edward. (2001) Public Art Collections in North-West England "Liverpool University Press". 192 pages. ISBN 0-85323-527-9. 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.Canaletto, Antonio. (1971) Views of Venice by Canaletto "Courier Dover Publications". 90 pages. ISBN 0-486-22705-7. Smith also arranged for the publication of a series of etchings of caprichos (capriccio italian for fancy), but the returns were not high enough, and in 1746 Canaletto moved to London, to be closer to his market.

He remained in England until 1755, producing views of London and of his patrons' castles and houses. He was mainly asked to paint England as he was seeing his native city and so by superimposing Venice on London which he did rigourously. Overall this period was not satisfactory, partly due to dissatisfaction with the declining quality of Canaletto's work. Canaletto's work began to suffer from repetitiveness, losing its traditional fluidity, and became mechanical to the point that the English art critic George Vertue suggested that the man painting under the name 'Canaletto' was an imposter. Since Canaletto wasn't mixing up with the italian artists that were present in London he had to give a public demostrations of his work to refute this claim; however, his reputation never fully recovered in his lifetime.Eglin, John. (2001) Venice Transfigured: The Myth of Venice in British Culture, 1660-1797 "Palgrave". 272 pages. ISBN 0-312-23299-3.

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.

Popularity

His pupils were his nephew, Bernardo Bellotto and Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Gabriele Bella and Giuseppe Bernardino Bison.

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 even as early as 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

• The Piazzetta (1733-1735)
• The Grand Canal at the Salute Church (1738-1742)

References