Canaletto: Colour Library

Phaidon Colour Library

by Christopher Baker

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (1697-1768), is one of the most popular of all old master painters, admired for his magnificant views of Venice and London. In the words of one of his contemporaries, Canaletto had the power to paint so that 'the eye is deceived and truly believes it is the real thing it sees'. Apprenticed to his artist father, Canaletto began his career as a scene-painter. He spent his formative years in Venice and is best known for his depictions of the buildings, canals and festivals of his native city, but he also spent several years in England, where he painted many stunning London scenes, including Westminster Bridge, Whitehall and the Old Horse Guards, as well as views of Warwick Castle and Eton College.

Genres: Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

Christopher^^Baker is the Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Scotland; he formerly curated the collections of Christ Church, Oxford and was a researcher at the National Gallery, London. He has lectured and published widely on British art and the history of collecting and organised exhibitions, which focus on artists such as Sandby, Turner and Ruskin.

Reviews

[Tom Simpkins]

Great summary of some of the greatest pieces of landscape art ever

[Mckinley]

Great book in this series which I would like to see more of.
Quickly and briefly does good job of describing work of artist.
In this case, city-scapes of Venice in early to mid 1700s. All positively composed - no drudgery of urban environment.

[KeeOfTheArchives]

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