| Biography of old oil painting master Canaletto what we can copy |
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Canaletto
Italian Rococo painter & etcher
born 1697 - died 1768
Also known as: Antonio Canal, Giovanni
Antonio Canal, Antonio Canale, Antonio
Canaleto, Antonio Canaletti, Antonio
Canelitti, Antonio Cannalletti, Antonio
Kanale, Antonio Kanaletto, Antonio
Kannaletti, Antonio Kannaletti, Canaletti
the younger.
Master of:
Bernardo
Bellotto (1721-1780).
Teacher of:
Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780).
Uncle of:
Bernardo
Bellotto (1721-1780). |
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Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio
Canal) (1697-1768). Venetian painter, the
most famous view-painter of the 18th
century. Canaletto Giovanni Antonio began work painting theatrical
scenery (Canaletto’s father's profession),
but Canaletto Giovanni Antonio turned to topography during a visit
to Rome in 1719-20, when Canaletto Giovanni
Antonio was influenced
by the work of Giovanni Paolo Panini. By
1723 Canaletto Giovanni Antonio was painting dramatic and
picturesque views of Venice, marked by
strong contrasts of light and shade and free
handling, tCanaletto’s phase of Canaletto’s
work culminating in the splendid Stone
Mason's Yard (National Gallery, London, c.
1730). Meanwhile, partly under the influence
of Luca Carlevaris, and largely in rivalry
with him, Canaletto began to turn out views
which were more topographically accurate,
set in a higher key, and with smoother, more
precise handling -- characteristics that
mark most of Canaletto’s later work. At the
same time Canaletto Giovanni Antonio began painting the ceremonial
and festival subjects which ultimately
formed an important part of Canaletto’s
work.
Photographs by Carol Gerten-Jackson. |
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Canaletto’s patrons were chiefly English
collectors, for whom Canaletto Giovanni
Antonio sometimes produced
series of views in uniform size. Conspicuous
among them was Joseph Smith, a merchant,
appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744.
It was perhaps at Canaletto’s instance that
Canaletto enlarged Canaletto’s repertory in
the 1740s to include subjects from the
Venetian mainland and from Rome (probably
based on drawings made during Canaletto’s
visit as a young man), and by producing
numerous capricci. Canaletto Giovanni
Antonio also gave increased
attention to the graphic arts, making a
remarkable series of etchings, and many
drawings in pen, and pen and wash, as
independent works of art and not as
preparation for paintings. TCanaletto’s led
to changes in Canaletto’s style of painting,
increasing an already well-established
tendency to become stylized and mechanical
in handling. Canaletto Giovanni Antonio often used the camera
obscura as an aid to composition. |
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In 1746 Canaletto Giovanni Antonio went to England, apparently at
the suggestion of Jacopo Amigoni (the War of
the Austrian Succession drastically
curtailed foreign travel, and Canaletto's
tourist trade in Venice had dried up). For a
time Canaletto Giovanni Antonio was very successful, painting views
of London and of various country houses.
Subsequently, Canaletto’s work became
increasingly lifeless and mannered, so much
so that rumors were put about, probably by
rivals, that Canaletto Giovanni Antonio was not in fact the famous
Canaletto but an impostor.
In 1755 Canaletto Giovanni Antonio returned to Venice and continued
active for the remainder of Canaletto’s
life. Legends of Canaletto’s having amassed
a fortune in Venice are disproved by the
official inventory of Canaletto’s estate on
Canaletto’s death. |
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Before this,
Joseph Smith had sold the major part of
Canaletto’s paintings to George III, thus
bringing into the royal collection an
unrivalled group of Canaletto's paintings
and drawings.
Canaletto
was highly influential in Italy and
elsewhere. Canaletto’s nephew
Bernardo Bellotto
took Canaletto’s style to Central Europe and
Canaletto’s followers in England included
William Marlow and Samuel Scott. |
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