Francesco Guardi

Alfred Lindon (Lindenbaum), Paris;
Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg and deposited at the Jeu de Paume on 10 December 1940;
Transferred to the Central Collecting Point Munich on 26 June 1945 (inv. no. 231/29);
Restituted to the Republic of France on 31 July 1946;
Restituted to Alfred Lindon (Lindenbaum), Paris, before February 1947;
His sale, Paris, Galliéra, 9 June 1964, (with its pendant, lot 41 in this sale).

A. Morassi, Guardi. Antonio e Francesco Guardi, Venice 1973, vol. I, p. 404, cat. no. 500, reproduced vol. II, fig. 497;
L. Rossi Bortolatto, L'opera completa di Francesco Guardi, Milan 1974, p. 118, cat. no. 508;
A Morassi, Guardi. I dipinti, Venice 1993, p. 443, cat. no. 710, reproduced fig. 667;
A. Bettagno, in the exhibition catalogue, Francesco Guardi. Vedute Capricci Feste, Venice, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, 1993, p. 158, under cat. no. 55.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This stable, flat little poplar panel has had two narrow strips attached to the sides. The flowing brushwork and crisp perfectly preserved impasto and detail are exceptionally intact. The only slight imperfection in this remarkably well preserved painting is around the base of the ruins where the darks have been worn in places and been fairly recently retouched. Elsewhere all the most fleeting touches are beautifully intact. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"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."

Antonio Morassi was unstinting in his praise for this delicate little capriccio, describing it as an 'Esemplare squisito, dal tocco immediato. Uno tra i capricci più notevoli di questo genere' ('An exquisite example, with real freshness of touch. One of the most noteworthy capricci of this type'). This panel forms part of a small group of paintings and one drawing, in which the same ruined Roman arch appears. The source for the design is most probably the pen-and-ink drawing formerly in the Boerner collection in Düsseldorf,¹ which in turn seems to have served as a preliminary study for a capriccio of horizontal format formerly in the Momigliano collection in Milan.² The ruined arch and the curving aqueduct (?) behind it are the same, but the drawing and horizontal painting introduce a low curving stone wall in front of them. Two other related capricci of vertical format are known, both on canvas and also of notable quality: one is now in Milan, Castello Sforzesco,³ and the other was sold (with its pendant) in New York, Sotheby's, 22 May 1992, lot 47 ($450,000), and is now in a private collection⁴.




1. See A. Morassi, Guardi. I disegni., Venice 1993, p. 164, no. 486, reproduced fig. 480.
2. See Morassi, under Literature, 1993, p. 442, cat. no. 708, reproduced vol. II, fig. 673;
3. Ibid., 1993, p. 442, cat. no. 709.
4. Exhibited, Venice, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, Francesco Guardi. Vedute Capricci Feste, 1993, cat. no. 55.