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Canaletto

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Artists

   The Stonemason's Yard, painted 1726-30.
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   The Stonemason's Yard, painted 1726-30.
   The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, painted 1730.
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   The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, painted 1730.
   Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day, 1732.
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   Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day, 1732.
   The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.
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   The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746.
   This 1752 painting of Northumberland House in London is an example of
   Canaletto's work during his residence in England.
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   This 1752 painting of Northumberland House in London is an example of
   Canaletto's work during his residence in England.

   Giovanni Antonio Canale ( Venice, Republic of Venice, October 28, 1697
   – April 19, 1768), better known as Canaletto, was a Venetian artist
   famous for his landscapes, or vedute of Venice. He was a son of the
   painter Bernardo Canale, 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

   Canaletto was born in Venice on October 28, 1697 to Bernardo and
   Artemisia Barbieri, and served his apprenticeship with his father and
   his brother. He began in his father's occupation, that of a theatrical
   scene painter. He also studied with Luca Carlevaris, a painter of
   mediocre street representations. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman
   vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini, and started painting the daily life
   of the city and its people. After returning 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 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.

   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

   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. 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. 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 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. 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.

   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 included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, 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 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

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

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaletto"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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