Feature: Art - Exhibition: Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, The National Gallery until January 16 2011

Published: 14 October 2010
by JOHN EVANS

ENGLAND'S enduring love affair with the work of Giovanni Antonio Canal – Canaletto – owes a lot to the royal family and George III in particular. 

In 1762 the monarch bought almost the entire collection of Joseph Smith, the British consul in Venice and the artist’s friend and greatest patron. 

So it’s fitting that major works from the current Royal Collection have been loaned for the National’s new show, which opens this week. Among these are The Molo from the Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day from about 1733. 

Other major works include The Riva degli Schiavoni, looking West, 1735, from Sir John Soane’s Museum, and the National’s own The Stonemason’s Yard, of about 1725 

Canaletto (1697-1768) was the son of a theatrical scene-painter in Venice and went with his father Bernardo to Rome in 1719 to paint opera sets. He turned to topography and drew the city’s classical ruins. 

By 1723 he was back in Venice and became renowned for his draughtsmanship, but with regard for good composition without slavishly depicting a view. 

His work appealed greatly to a foreign clientele, particularly English nobility on the Grand Tour, and he was to visit England regularly between 1746 and 1756.

The exhibition demonstrates how he was far from alone in exploiting a highly lucrative market. 

His major works are set alongside those of forerunners, rivals and associates, to highlight their variations of style and differences of approach. 

These include Gaspare Vanvitelli (1652–1736), Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730) and Michele Marieschi (1710–1743). 

Notably there is the artist’s nephew, his most important workshop assistant who also used the name Canaletto from time to time, Bernardo Bellotto (1722–1780). He could soon imitate his uncle’s style so well that attribution of works was to become and remain a problem. 

The exhibition features over 50 major loans from public and private collections from the UK, Europe, America and Venice itself. One centrepiece room is dedicated to the city’s dramatic festivals, regattas and ceremonies.

In addition to lesser-known painters, there is also the work of Francesco Guardi (1712–1793) who outlived Canaletto by a quarter of a century and, according to the organisers, was “… to provide a glorious final chapter in the history of Venetian view painting”. 

Pictured: Canaletto: The Entrance to the Grand Canal, looking East, with Santa Maria della Salute (1744)