Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697 ndash; 1768) better known as Canaletto; was an Italian painter of landscapes of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.He was born in Venice as the son of the painter Bernardo Canal; hence his mononym Canaletto ("little Canal"); and Artemisia Barbieri. Bernardo Bellotto was his nephew and pupil. Canaletto served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother. He began in his fathers occupation; that of a theatrical scene painter. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini; and started painting the daily life of the city and its people. After returning from Rome in 1719; he began painting in his topographical style. His first known signed and dated work is Architectural Capriccio (1723). Studying with the older Luca Carlevarijs; a moderately-talented painter of urban cityscapes; he rapidly became his masters equal.Much of Canalettos early artwork was painted "from nature"; differing from the then customary practice of completing paintings in the studio. Some of his later works do revert to this custom; as suggested by the tendency for distant figures to be painted as blobs of colour ndash; an effect produced by using a camera obscura; which blurs farther-away objects. However; his paintings are always notable for their accuracy: he recorded the seasonal submerging of Venice in water and ice. In this painting; the high viewpoint gives the illusion of looking out of a window; but there is no building in the position where the artist would have had to stand to use the "camera".Canalettos early works remain his most coveted and; according to many authorities; his best. One of his early pieces is The Stonemasons Yard (1729) which depicts a humble working area of the city.Later Canaletto painted grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doges Palace. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the citys pageantry and waning traditions; making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colors. For these qualities; his works may be said to have anticipated Impressionism.Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour; often through the agency of the merchant Joseph Smith; who was later appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744. It was Smith who acted as an agent for Canaletto; first in requesting paintings of Venice from the painter in the early 1720s and helping him to sell his paintings to other Englishmen.
#3779961 in eBooks 2015-07-31 2015-07-26File Name: B012M3ME24
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