Canaletto à Venise – Discover Venice in Paris

During the eighteenth century some young French artists, despite having the French Academy, preferred to study in Rome and Venice. Today, you have the chance to discover their works at Maillol Museum, which pays tribute to the Venice of 1700 with an exhibition that showcases the best works of Canaletto (from the 19^th of September to the 10^th of February 2013).

Giovanni Antonio Canal (known as Canaletto, 1697-1768) was a famous painter of urban landscapes in Venice, who became the greatest precursor of Veduta, the eighteenth century Italian painting genre. The vedute, portrayed almost as a mapping, the Venetian landscape of the time, while describing in great detail rivers, canals, bridges, architecture, etc.

Maillol Museum, in collaboration with other museums and private collectors, gathered more than 50 Canaletto’s works, selected with great rigor. This is a great opportunity to contemplate the best paintings of Canaletto. Landscapes and views, as well as tradition, history, drawings and prints, are now gathered in this magnificent display of the best artist of this kind of art, while renewing and modernizing him, to become a global icon in painting.

Canaletto’s techniques were varied; direct painting, sketch or finished on site work. Referring to the latter one, the Venduta’s painter used an optical camera to project an image and frame landscapes. Caravaggio also used this device, but Giovanni Antonio Canal better developed what today is known as wide angle. Thanks to Dario Maran studies, there is a recreated copy of this wonderful machine showcased in this exhibition, so that the viewer can interact with it and understand how Canaletto did those aerial view of Venice.

This exhibition takes place in parallel with the major retrospective of Guardi, which is being prepared for next fall at the Museo Correr.

If you want more information about this exhibition dedicated to Venice, visit the following website: http://www.museemaillol.com/

If you rent apartments in Paris you will discover another major European city, Venice. Come to the Maillol Museum and visit this exhibition that showcases over 50 of the best works of the Canaletto.