約翰·里克特

Mrs. John Innes Kane;

By whom bequeathed to The Cooper Union Museum, New York, 1926;

By whom anonymously sold ('The Property of an American Institution'), London, Sotheby's, 26 March 1969, lot 23 (as Luca Carlevarijs), for £15,000, to Marshall;

With Colnaghi, London, 1974;

Private collection, Switzerland, by summer 1978;

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 16 July 1980, lot 129 (as Luca Carlevarijs);

Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Gentleman'), London, Christie's, 24 May 1991, lot 74 (as Luca Carlevarijs), for £451,000;

Where acquired by the present collector.

Sarasota, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, An Exhibition of Reflections of The Italian Comedy, 21 January – 23 February 1951, no. 17 (as Luca Carlevarijs);

Toronto, Art Gallery, 17 October – 15 November 1964; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 4 December 1964 – 10 January 1965; and Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, 29 January – February 1965, Canaletto, no. 131 (as Luca Carlevarijs);

London, Colnaghi, Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, 21 May – 22 June 1974, no. 1;

Pfäffikon, Seedamm-Kulturzentrum, 18 June – 27 August 1978; and Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, 13 September – 5 November, Art vénitien en Suisse et au Liechtenstein, cat. no. 158 (as Luca Carlevarijs).

A. Everett Austin Jr., Reflections of The Italian Comedy, exh. cat., Sarasota 1951, cat. no. 17, reproduced p. 2;

W.G. Constable, Canaletto, exh. cat., Toronto 1964, p. 156, cat. no. 131, reproduced (listed in the catalogue, but not exhibited) (as Luca Carlevarijs);

R. Pallucchini, 'Due Vedute del Carlevarijs', in Studi di Storia dell'Arte in onore di Vittorio Viale, Turin 1967, pp. 52–56, reproduced fig. 1 (as Luca Carlevarijs);

A. Rizzi, Luca Carlevarijs, Venice 1967, pp. 63, 92, fig. 153 (as a collaborative work, unspecified collaborator);

R. Pallucchini, 'Schede Venete Settecentesche', in Arte Veneta, vol. XXV, Venice 1971, pp. 163–64, note 20 (as Luca Carlevarijs);

Colnaghi's Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, exh. cat., London 1974, cat. no. 1, plate 1;

M. Natale, Art vénitien en Suisse et au Liechtenstein, exh. cat., Milan 1978, pp. 178–179, no. 158, reproduced p. 178 (as Luca Carlevaris);

E. Martini, La Pittura del Settecento Veneto, Udine 1982, p. 489, note 116 (as Carlevarijs);

I. Reale, 'Gio. Richter, svezzese, scolare di Luca Carlevariis', in Lucas Carlevarijs e la veduta veneziana del Settecento, exh. cat., Milan 1994, pp. 118, 126, notes 15, 17, 24, reproduced p. 120, fig. 9 (as Johann Richter).

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Johann Richter. Venice. The Piazzetta looking South. This painting has a recent stretcher and recent lining which has firmly imposed an even texture on the paint surface, however one or two irregular bulges in the upper left sky suggest that the lining is not fully attached throughout. The restoration is also very recent, with minor scattered retouchings for example down the left edge and occasionally elsewhere such as in the lower right foreground. The figures and fine architectural detail has been rigorously restored and is largely well preserved throughout. 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."

Like the previous lot, this painting is closely related to an engraving after Richter by Bernhard Vogel. It too is extended from the mise-en-scène presented in the engraving, with a further four bays of the Biblioteca on the right, and an additional two arches of the basilica on the left. Again, the positioning of the staffage largely corresponds, with a temporary stage set up on the left in front of the Palazzo Ducale before which a throng of figures is gathered, thinning out towards the Biblioteca, but the specific detail of the figures does not.

Also like the previous lot, there is a similar painting that was also given to Carlevarijs with the help of a collaborator by Rizzi.¹ Though not reproduced by Reale, this too seems very likely by Richter and we can therefore say again that this particular compositional arrangement is exclusive to the Swedish painter. Unlike the previous lot, however, Carlevarijs did paint the Piazzetta from this precise viewpoint, though with totally different staffage. A painting which must date to a very similar moment in Richter’s career recently surfaced from a Scottish private collection and was sold in these rooms, 9 December 2009, lot 46. It shares remarkably similar coloration, tonality and brushwork and must surely have been executed only a short time before or after. Various figures recur, though in some cases with the colour of particular items of clothing changed: the lady seen from behind wearing yellow on top and blue beneath, almost directly between the two columns and talking to a masked gentleman who leans in towards her, can be seen at the left of the principal figure group in the ex-Scottish work, though there she wears a red, rather than a blue skirt.

The engravings by Vogel are labelled, described and identified in four different languages (Latin, Italian, French and German) which is indicative of the wide circulation they were intended to have.

Rizzi (1967) mentioned that both this and the previous lot bore the apocryphal signature: Antonio Canaletto... 

For further information on the artist and the context of the painting please see the previous lot.

1. Rizzi 1967, reproduced fig. 157.