Collection
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Title
The Piazza San Marco, Venice
1742-1746
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About
Architectonic in construction and architectural in content, this magnificent 'venduta', or view, sparkles with the very light of Venice. This was subject matter tackled time and time again by Canaletto, probably with the aid of a 'camera obscura'; yet despite the artist's concern for accuracy, this painting is nowhere dull or perfunctory in its attention to detail. Having worked as a scenographic artist in the Italian perspectival tradition, and as the son of such an artist, Canaletto was ideally placed to become the greatest recorder of the physical glories of the city-state called 'La Serenissima'. This is not to say that the human glory of Venice is ignored. Canaletto, here as elsewhere, populated the Piazza with a dizzying and deliciously executed array of merchants, friars, wigged officials, masked revellers, mysterious women, children and dogs. If the majority of such views were intended for consumption by English and other tourists, this has not been to the detriment of their remarkable artistic quality.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
Details
Date
1742-1746
Materials used
oil on canvas
Dimensions
67.5 x 119.0 cm stretcher; 85.0 x 136.0 x 9.0 cm frame
Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Gift of James Fairfax AC 1996
Accession number
302.1996
URL / Share
Canaletto
The Piazza San Marco, Venice
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Exhibition history
The James Fairfax collection of old masters, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Apr 1992–14 Jun 1992
The James Fairfax collection of old master paintings, drawings and prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Apr 2003–20 Jul 2003
European Old Masters 16th-19th Century from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, 28 Sep 2017–03 Dec 2017
The provenance of this work is under review and records will be updated as new details become available. The Gallery welcomes any information. Contact provenance@ag.nsw.gov.au
Provenance
H.J. Spiller, pre 13 Apr 1928, London/England, [frame dealer]
Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, 13 Apr 1928-04 Jun 1928, London/England, Purchased by Arthur Tooth & Sons from H.J. Spiller, 13 April 1928. Tooth stock no. 8433. Sold to Leggatt Bros., 4 June 1928.
Leggatt Bros., London, 04 Jun 1928-1939, London/England, [dealer] Purchased by Leggatt Bros. from Arthur Tooth & Sons, 4 June 1928. Leggatt Bros. business records pre 1945 have been destroyed (information from C. Leggatt)
Christie's London, 14 Apr 1978, London/England, lot no.32, 'Property of a gentleman' £90,000. Letter sent 8 April 2003 by Christie's London on behalf of the AGNSW to the UK address on their records of 1978 (no updated address available on system). June 2003 letter returned by post office 'addresse unknown'.
Colnaghi U.S.A., 1987, New York/New York/United States of America, Sold to James Fairfax 1987. Letters sent to Colnaghi's 17 October 2001, 15 May 2002 and 15 March 2003 asking for information on when and from whom they acquired the painting. No response.
James Oswald Fairfax AC, 1987-Jun 1996, Bowral/New South Wales/Australia, Gift of James Fairfax 1996. Purchased by James Fairfax from Colnaghi, New York 1987. On formal loan to AGNSW from February 1988 - June 1996.
Referenced in 14 publications
Bibliography
Richard Beresford, Look, 'Not only great art: fascinating stories discovered behind the works on show', Sydney, Apr 2003, pp 18–21: p 19, col illus (detail) p 19.
Edmund Capon, Great philanthropists on trial : the art of the bequest, 'The James Fairfax collection', Melbourne, 2006, pp 126–35: p 130.
Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture', Sydney, 1999, pp 17–70: p 30, col illus p 30.
Look, Sydney, Dec 2002-Jan 2003, col illus p 11.
A supplement to W.G. Constable's Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768, London, 1998, p 7, no 49(c).
Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 1996, Sydney, 1996, pp 8, 21, 52, col illus p 9.
Luca Carlevarijs: e la veduta veneziana del Settecento, Milan, 1994, p 29, illus p 28, fig 7.
The James Fairfax collection of old masters, Sydney, 1992, np.
Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, 2nd edition, reissued, Oxford, 1989, ol 2, p 207, no 49(c), p 727. Reprint of the 2nd revised edition published in 1976, now reissued with supplement and additional plates.
Apollo, vol 107, no 193, London, Mar 1978, col illus adv p 23.
Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, 2nd edition, Oxford, 1976, vol 2, p 207, no 49(c). 2nd edition revised by J.G. Links.
Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford, 1962, vol 2, p 202, no 49(c).
The James Fairfax collection of old master paintings, drawings and prints, Sydney, 2003, pp 48–53, no 10, col illus pp 46–47 (detail), 49. cat.no. 10, illustration on pages 46-47 are a detail
Canaletto: il trionfo della veduta, Rome, 2005, pp 158, 166.