Francesco Guardi

European private collection, acquired circa 1900 and thence by descent;
Their Anonymous Sale, London, Christie's, April 9, 2003, lot 116.

 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been quite recently restored. The canvas has an old glue lining. The paint layer has probably been fairly recently cleaned and varnished, and does not appear to be noticeably dirty. With these Venetian paintings painted on a red ground one expects to see very slight interference from the ground color, in the sky particularly, and while this picture is no exception and there are hints of this ground color showing, what makes it unusual is the fact that there are no retouches and arguably no reason to consider any retouches to this picture. Similarly, in the foreground in the architecture, there is no restoration visible under ultraviolet light and while there may be a spot or two of retouch, around the edges particularly, there do not appear to be any restorations of note anywhere in this picture. There is one slightly smooth area in the side of the wall in the lower center which may correspond to a restoration. However, this picture is clearly in lovely condition and can be hung in its current state.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This work belongs to a group of paintings by Guardi depicting capricci of the same ruined arch, a structure inspired by the arcade of the Doge's Palace. Within that group, Antonio Morassi lists six other pictures in which the motif is developed into a four-sided portico-like structure with two open and two closed arches resting on Corinthian columns and supporting a vaulted ceiling (Guardi: I Dipinti, 2nd edn., Electa, Venice 1984, vol. I, pp.488-9, nos.966-71; vol. II, figs. 846, 850, 851-2 and 855). All but one of these paintings, that in the Mont Collection, New York (Morassi no.967) has a wooden shanty leaning against the side of the portico. The Mont painting and that in the National Gallery, London (Morassi no.966) are upright in format, the other four horizontal.

The present work is particularly close in composition to the National Gallery painting, which is on panel and measures 8 x 6 in (20.1 x 15.5 cm). Dated by Michael Levey to the mid-1770s, the London picture was originally sold by Guardi to a priest from Ancona, from whose representative it was acquired by Lord Farnham in Rome. On the back of the panel is the inscription di Franc.o Guardi Veniziano in the handwriting of Giacomo Guardi, who inherited his father's studio stock and sold it off piecemeal (see Michael Levey, National Gallery Catalogues, Italian Schools, The 17th and 18th Century, 1971, p.124). It is more sketchy than the present work and the tomb chest at the left has been replaced by a closed gothic arch. It lacks the elegant cypresses which do so much to enhance the verticality of the present painting. Dr Dario Succi dates the present Capriccio circa 1778-80.  The present work is to be included in the catalogue raisonné of the work of Francesco Guardi being prepared by Dr Dario Succi.

Although Guardi painted many topographical Venetian views, his genius is also wonderfully expressed in his capricci, which take familiar Venetian buildings, or in this case ruins, and place them in imaginary settings. Guardi's poetic use of light and composition conjures up the essence of the city. These capricci were popular with Grand Tourists and many have found their way into English and European aristocratic collections, but there is evidence that they were avidly collected by Venetians themselves, who enjoyed this witty and whimsical rearrangement of their own city.