LEARNING AND SEEING - IN VENICE
For me, the name Canaletto conjures up Venice. Most of us may stop there for this very prolific artist. Laurent asked me if I would join him to see the exhibition «Canaletto in Venice» and as this is a period, the 18th century, we are studying at the Louvre I thought it would perhaps help me to look at the artist a little better.
We have been to Venice a couple of times together but I have no memory of actually seeing paintings there by this Master. Seeing them in the Maillol museum was like being there and thank goodness without the huge 10 story ships which turn around the bay so tourists can say «I have seen Venise». I wonder when they will stop that nonsense which must be lucrative for the city even so.
If the city survives it will not really have changed so much over the centuries. If it doesn’t I suppose those born in the next century will say that such a place could never have existed...I wonder?
Thanks to Laurent I saw Canaletto. I had never appreciated his light, precision and detail before. I much preferred the paintings done between 1730 and 1745 (he was born in 1697 and into a rich family). Later his style changed and there is a feature in the paintings of people which I did not like. When they were really identifiable, eyes seemed liked black dots and always the same. Earlier the precision in clothing, drapery and detail is quite remarkable. The people are tiny and faces not easy to see. Images are photographic perhaps but even when paintings were repeated, details changed - light an even at times clothing was different on a personage depicted in several paintings.
He can’t have been an easy person to negotiate with which is illustrated by his 9 years in the UK. (1744 to 1755). He certainly was not appreciated by the local artists but even so, Canaletto received many prestigious commissions and was never short of work. He drove a hard bargain and deadlines I gather where not always kept. Looking at some of his paintings on Internet done during that period are quite fascinating. The same intricate detail found in those painted in Venice. People were travelling. Artists, intellectuals, the elite all over Europe and having a painting of a place visited was another way of remembering the trip. We do it with numeric photos and postcards. I would never have been in the run for a Canaletto canvas but thanks to Laurent I was able to appreciate his work a little more.
Now I am to be away again but this time, my first safari and I am very excited.
We have been to Venice a couple of times together but I have no memory of actually seeing paintings there by this Master. Seeing them in the Maillol museum was like being there and thank goodness without the huge 10 story ships which turn around the bay so tourists can say «I have seen Venise». I wonder when they will stop that nonsense which must be lucrative for the city even so.
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| Taller than a building |
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| Seeing Venice |
If the city survives it will not really have changed so much over the centuries. If it doesn’t I suppose those born in the next century will say that such a place could never have existed...I wonder?
Thanks to Laurent I saw Canaletto. I had never appreciated his light, precision and detail before. I much preferred the paintings done between 1730 and 1745 (he was born in 1697 and into a rich family). Later his style changed and there is a feature in the paintings of people which I did not like. When they were really identifiable, eyes seemed liked black dots and always the same. Earlier the precision in clothing, drapery and detail is quite remarkable. The people are tiny and faces not easy to see. Images are photographic perhaps but even when paintings were repeated, details changed - light an even at times clothing was different on a personage depicted in several paintings.
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| Rialto |
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| Campo-Santa-Maria-Formosa-c.-1735- |
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| Palazzo-Ducale-and-the-Piazza-di-San-Marco- |
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| View-of-the-Grand-Canal-from-the-South,-the-Palazzo-Foscari-to-the-right-and-the-Rialto-Bridge-beyond |
He can’t have been an easy person to negotiate with which is illustrated by his 9 years in the UK. (1744 to 1755). He certainly was not appreciated by the local artists but even so, Canaletto received many prestigious commissions and was never short of work. He drove a hard bargain and deadlines I gather where not always kept. Looking at some of his paintings on Internet done during that period are quite fascinating. The same intricate detail found in those painted in Venice. People were travelling. Artists, intellectuals, the elite all over Europe and having a painting of a place visited was another way of remembering the trip. We do it with numeric photos and postcards. I would never have been in the run for a Canaletto canvas but thanks to Laurent I was able to appreciate his work a little more.
Now I am to be away again but this time, my first safari and I am very excited.
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