Canaletto (Masters of Italian Art Series)

Rating:
Summary: View Painter Extraordinaire
Review: J. G. Links is widely recognized as the reigning authority on the Venetian painter Canaletto. This masterful book is probably the most extensive study on the painter available in the English language. In addition to Links' very entertaining prose his book is filled with color plates of over 200 of Canaletto's paintings and sketches.

Little is known about Canaletto's life and Links does not try to read more into the few facts that do exist. He does try to piece together Canaletto's life by dating his many paintings. If you are a Canaletto enthusiast and want to know more about what inspired him and how he lived you will be disappointed. No one knows how or why this man became the greatest painter of "view paintings" of all time except that his father was a painter of theatre scenes and undoubtedly exposed the young Canaletto to his trade at an early age. Canaletto's nephew was Bernardo Bellotto, a man who at his very best could claim to be as good as his uncle. Whereas Bellotto painted mostly in Germany, Canaletto is most famous for his views of Venice. The shimmering reflections of the Grand Canal, the faded and peeling stucco sides of the palaces, the many boat plying the waterways, and finally the people of Venice are captured in the all- seeing eye of the "camera man" of the 18th century.

Canaletto's best patrons were the English who were overcome by Venice's beauty and Canaletto's ability to capture it on canvas. He made two trips to London and his works there of the newly built Westminister Bridge, the Thames, and the castles of the rich rival his works of his native city. Most of Canaletto'w works are on display in English museums or in private collections in that country.

Links is not an interpreter of art and does not attempt to explain in detail the many plates in his book from an artistic perspective. He does explain in great detail the relationship of Canaletto to several Englishmen in Venice who acted as brokers for his many works. Were it not for these men Canaletto's fame would probably have gone less noticed and certainly they are responsible for the many works that still survive, thought sadly many have vanished forever.

While this is a picture book it is not necessarily a "coffee table" one. Canaletto painted scenes immense in size and detail and most do not reproduce that well on a single or even double page of this large book. Still, for a first rate account of Canaletto (slim as the facts may be), the business of art in the 1700's, and over 200 fabulous paintings (dare I say photographs?) and sketches, this is as good as it gets.