Antonio Canaletto and his vedutes of Venice

[Anatol]

One of the best landscape artists of the eighteenth century, and an important representative of Venetian painting, Canaletto is famous for his landscapes (vedute), of Venice, with its Italianate Piazzas, canals and lagoon. Indeed, he is the most celebrated of all view-painters (vedutisti) of the city, and one of the pioneers of two-point linear perspective. His meticulous architectural landscape painting influenced a number of artists in Italy and elsewhere: his nephew Bernardo Bellotto (1720-80) took his style to central Europe - notably Dresden and Warsaw - while his followers and adherents in England included the marine and topographical painter Samuel Scott (1702-72) and the landscape and marine artist William Marlowe (1740-1813). He was also an expert in drawing and printmaking, and produced a range of popular etchings. Canaletto's reputation as one of the finest rococo period artists has remained high ever since his death, and his famous landscape paintings of Venetian lagoons, canals and pageantry continue to command high prices at auction (eg. View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto).
Canaletto was born in Venice, the son of the painter Bernardo Canal - a noted theatrical scene painter - hence his nickname Canaletto ("little Canal"), and Artemisia Barbieri. He learned painting in the studio of his father and his older brother, starting out as a painter of theatrical backdrops. However, his interest was by no means limited to this commercial art and, during a visit to Rome 1719-20, he was influenced by the work of the view-painter (vedutista) Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691-1765), who specialised in topographical views of the city, notably ruins, as well as predecessors like Gentile Bellini (1429-1507). Returning to Venice, Canaletto abandoned his theatrical art and determined to devote himself to topographical painting al naturale (from nature).
Perhaps due to the influence of the older view-painter Luca Carlevaris (1664-1730), under whom Canaletto is said to have studied, he soon turned to depicting grander locations showing the public face of Venice and its ceremonial festivities, which were both topographically accurate and marked by a smoother, more precise handling - characteristics that reoccur in much of his later work. Much of Canaletto's early oil painting was painted 'from nature', in contrast to the normal practice among many Italian painters who worked almost entirely in the studio - a practice Canaletto was to revert to in later years.
Canaletto's best works were painted in the late 1720s and 1730s. During this time his stunning use of perspective and composition (aided by a camera obscura), flair for colour in painting, and freshness of touch, made him one of the very few painters who has been able to capture the unique light and feel of Venice, along with its pageantry and history.
Guinea-Bissau 2003; (6x450)FCFA; 3000FCFA;Ms.
Source: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-mas ... aletto.htm