Canaletto and the Art of Venice

Lovely exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery looking at the Royal Collections Canalettos and related material.

To be honest the show might be better named Joseph Smith and the art of Venice as it largely based on Smith’s collection and library which was bought by George III in 1760. Smith was British Consul in Venice and a major art dealer and champion of Canaletto. However I guess it needs the Canaletto brand to get the punters through the doors.

The first two rooms focused on the drawings which were amazing. The detail was fantastic with wonderful cross hatched clouds and simple swirls for the prows of the gondolas. I also liked the drawings by Ricci of stage designs and opera singers including the famous castrato singer Farnelli. These drawings had come from Smith’s library which had been a well-known stop of the Grand Tour.

One of the larger rooms was devoted to works by Canaletto’s contemporaries hung in the style of the time in a dense and decorative way. It was nice to see two Rosalba Carriera pictures as I had been to a seminar about her recently.

Of course the room of large Canalettos was stunning. I was in Venice this time last year and it brought back happy memories. They were shown against wonderful red walls which highlighted the rhythm of blue skies. They included the twelve views of the Grand Canal which Smith had commissioned and hung in the entrance to Smith’s library to promote Canaletto’s work. I loved the large pictures of Rome complete with the same people and dogs as Venice.

Closes on 12 November 2017.

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