Guardi's "capricci" - that is, imaginary views or architectural fantasies, are charming improvisations described in an almost sketch-like manner. This example originally belonged to Angelo Querini, the last Venetian ambassador to France in the 1790s. It embodies the decorative and picturesque effect that gained widespread popularity in the eighteenth century. Here the intimate scale, light palette, and imaginative arrangements of architecture and figures stand in sharp contrast to the precision and detail of Guardi's famous predecessor, Canaletto. In this regard the painting belongs fully to the rococo aesthetic.
Details
- Artist Name: Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712-1793)
- Title: A Venetian Capriccio
- Date: c. 1775
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 20-5/8 x 15-1/8 in. (52.4 x 38.4 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1982.1.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Walter Goetz, sold by c. 1981 to;
[E.V. Thaw & Co., New York, offered c. November 1981 and subsequently sold 21 January 1982 to];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
- Gazette des Beaux-Arts, no. 1370
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 100
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1687 p. 435
- Penny, Nicholas, Italian Paintings in the Norton Simon Museum: the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, 2021, cat. 14 pp. 154-158
Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.
Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.
Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.