London: Nov 1: Canaletto at the National Gallery

On Monday, November 1, I went to the National Gallery to see its current special exhibits. (I'd already seen all the permanent collection.) The headline exhibit was Venice: Canaletto and his Rivals. It showed panoramic paintings of Venice, showing large scenes and sometimes festivals, most done by Canaletto, Michele Marieschi, Bernardo Bellotto, and Francesco Guardi. I really liked how the exhibit juxtaposed Canaletto's paintings of views with others' paintings of the same view. It allowed me to get a grasp on each painter's style. For example, Bernardo Bellotto put more emphasis on the architecture than Canaletto. (I actually tend to prefer Bellotto's version of scenes.) By the time I finished browsing, I could recognize by styles all the major artists on display.

Although I liked the paintings in the exhibit, my favorites weren't actually done by Canaletto. I liked Michele Marieschi's The Courtyard of the Doge's Palace (for the way the light sparkles), Gaspare Vanvitelli's The Molo from the Bacino di San Marco (so much detail!), and somewhat Luca Carlevarijs' The Piazza San Marco - looking east (for the architecture). The first painting brings up an interesting point. Art critics apparently say Canaletto was better than Marieschi because Canaletto's light is more atmospheric, darker, and more realistic whereas Marieschi's light is brighter, more sparkly, and more artificial. Perhaps I prefer Marieschi's precisely because Canaletto's light is more real, conveying the authenticity of the place, and therefore less stylish, less alive.

I learned some interesting things from the exhibit and its high-quality audio guide. (I read all the plaques and listened to nearly everything in the guide.) For instance, I learned a bit about how the British desire for Grand Tour art influenced the work of the artists and what and how they painted: i.e., the impact of commercialization. A natural consequence is that works painted by Bernardo Bellotto, Canaletto's nephew/trainee, ended up being sold under Canaletto's name. (Canaletto took a long time on his paintings and couldn't satisfy the market demand.)

For reference, the paintings the critics proclaimed as two of Canaletto's masterpieces are The Grand Canal with San Simeone Piccolo and the Scalzi and The Grand Canal from Campo Santa Sofia to the Rialto Bridge.

I spent a bit more than an hour in the Venice exhibit.

The other special exhibit, meant to accompany the Venice one, showed more urban landscapes. In particular, it presented three views of London done by a modern painter, Clive Head. His paintings are almost photographic, yet each combines several perspectives in a smooth way. I look and know they're wrong, but it's hard to put my finger on why. A good description of this technique is on the exhibit's web page.

Incidentally, I took some pictures on the way to/from the National Gallery.