Beschreibung:

CANALETTO, Antonio Canal (1697-1768)
CANALETTO, Antonio Canal (1697-1768) Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate da Antonio Canal (Bromberg 1-11, 13-16, 18-33) the complete set of 31 etchings on 18 sheets, circa 1735-44, very good impressions, the majority first state (of two) or second state (of three), most with Fleur-de-Lys with pendant initials FF watermark (cf. Bromberg 45) or Coat-of-Arms with three Stars surmounted by Crown (cf. Bromberg 27 and 28), previously bound at center, re-bound, the central fold flattened, backed and repaired, within an early 20th century red morocco binding and matching slipcase Provenance: W. C. Russell Allen With Robert Light, 1958 Literature: Ruth Bromberg, Canaletto's Etchings , Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1993 Canaletto turned to etching at the height of his popularity as a painter when his virtuoso Venetian views were in great demand, especially with the many English aristocratic visitors to the city on the Grand Tour. This lucrative stream of commissions made both his reputation and his fortune, but may have also resulted in the increasingly formulaic style of his later paintings, which John Ruskin described as 'miserable, heartless, virtueless mechanism'. (Quoted in: Bromberg, p. XI). Why Canaletto at this point in his career decided to create a series of etched Vedute is not clear. The taste for Venetian views had certainly stimulated a thriving trade in printed views of the city. However, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) had curtailed travelers to Italy and resulted in a temporary cooling of business. The economic timing for the publication of a series of prints was far from auspicious and it seems unlikely that the decision to experiment with a new medium was motivated primarily by pecuniary motives. A more obvious explanation is that the Vedute were a commission from Canaletto's patron Joseph Smith. Smith is known to have had an interest in printmaking, having commissioned a series of engravings by Antonio Visentini (1688-1782) after the paintings of Venice by Canaletto in his own collection. Canaletto's dedication of his Vedute to Smith, suggests that this is the most plausible scenario. It is also uncertain when exactly the plates were etched; only one plate, the later divided Imaginary View of Venice (B. 12) bears a date, 1741. As to the date of publication, the series must have been published after 6 June 1744 when Joseph Smith was appointed Consul to Venice, the title used by Canaletto in his dedication, and probably before Canaletto's departure for England in 1746. Whatever its genesis, the Vedute marked a change in the artist's style and attitude. Unusually for an artist who had made his reputation with views of Venice, it comprises relatively few of the famous sites of the city. Instead, he turned to more vernacular, picturesque buildings, courtyards and views, whether real or fictitious. Instead of topographical accuracy, his etchings betray a renewed interest in the more atmospheric, ephemeral aspects, in the play of light and shadow on the canals and facades of the city, which he depicted with nervous, quivering lines. Viscount Norwich eloquently described the effect the etchings seem to have had on the artist: "All the youthful vigour has returned, the freedom of fancy and line, all the imagination and invention that material success had whittled away. The verticals no longer betray the draughtsman's T-Square, the figures are real people once more, not just short-hand blobs put in to prevent the places looking deserted. New disciplines and techniques demanded a new eye, a new approach to problems of light and shade. Canaletto was himself again" (Viscount Norwich, Foreword, in: Bromberg, p. XI).