Francesco Guardi specialized in painting picturesque views of Venice for European tourists. Depicted here is Santa Maria della Salute, the great domed church that dominates the mouth of the Grand Canal. Guardi characteristically emphasized not the specific Venetian monument, but his overall impression of the scene: the lively figures, the crisscross of boats in the canal and, above all, the effects of sunlight, water and open sky. This animated composition shows the loose, broken brushwork and delicate rendering of sparkling water and moist atmosphere that would later inspire the Impressionists.
Born and bred in Venice, recognition and financial security came to Guardi only as he approached middle age. Fame arrived posthumously and he is now recognized as one of Venice’s most poetic artists celebrated for his evocative views of his native city.
Details
- Artist Name: Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712-1793)
- Title: View of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute with the Dogana del Mare
- Date: c. 1770-80
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 16-1/8 x 20-3/16 in. (40.9 x 51.2 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.47.1.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Madame André Lazard (nèe Georgette Berthier, 1885-1971), Paris, by 1952.
[Frederick Mont, Inc., New York, sold 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Tiepolo et Guardi. Exposition de peintures et dessins provenant de collections françaises publiques et privées, organisée au profit du Comité National pour la sauvegardé de Versailles
- Paris, Galerie Cailleux, 1952-11 to
[on loan]
- Seattle Art Museum, 1973-02-27 to 1973-09-05
[on loan]
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1975-03-19 to 1975-10
[on loan]
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1974-06-12 to 1975-10
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
- Pallucchini, Rodolfo, Arte Veneta, p. 231
- Morassi, Antonio, Antonio e Francesco Guardi, no. 490, fig. 491, pl. XLV p. 244
- Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum Pasadena, California, p. 71
- McCorquodale, Charles, The Connoisseur, p. 211
- Simonson, George A., Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), 1904, no. 253 p. 97
- Bortolatto, Luigina Rossi, L'opera completa di Francesco Guardi, 1974, no. 378 p. 111
- Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, 1979, p. 370
- Morassi, Antonio, Guardi: i dipinti, 1984,
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 99
- Bettagno, Alessandro, Francesco Guardi, 1993,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 881 p. 347
- Renato Miracco, Italian Treasures in the U.S. An Itinerary of Art, 2014, p. #42
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