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Lot Essay
These pictures are from the same set of four as two others of the same format, the Piazza San Marco, looking west and the Salute with the Punta di Dogana formerly in the collection of G.C. Stucky, Venice, and subsequently in that of A. Crespi, Milan (Morassi, nos. 347 and 472). All four were illustrated in Fiocco's pioneering monograph of 1923: Morassi dates the Cannaregio view to the period 1760-70.
The view of San Giorgio shows the monastery without the campanile. The compositional field corresponds closely with that of the picture of almost identical size in the Lugt Collection (Paris, Fondazione Custodia; Morassi, no. 437): a picture of similar size but showing considerably more of the Riva degli Schiavoni on the left is at Turin (Galleria Sabaudia; Morassi, no. 436). Morassi notes that the present picture corresponds with a drawing in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass., in which the gondolas do not appear. Two later reductions are recorded by Morassi (nos. 459 and 460).
While San Giorgio Maggiore was a subject to which Guardi often returned, his views of the Cannaregio are very much less numerous. The most ambitious, with the Palazzo Surian-Bellotto in the centre, was supplied to the English Resident, John Strange (Morassi, no. 575): dated 1765-75 by Morassi, this is evidently of no earlier than 1771 when Strange settled in Venice. The present work relates closely to the left section of that picture. The Palazzo Surian was the seat of the French embassy: the arms on the shield above the door are those of the ambassador. Morassi records a version, perhaps by Giacomo Guardi, at Princeton.
Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (1868-1940), was with his elder brother, Alfred, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, one of the most successful -- and influential -- newspaper magnates of the early twentieth century, owning the Daily Mail, the Evening News and serving as Chairman of Associated Newspapers Ltd. He assembled 'in the course of comparatively few years' a considerable collection of pictures, of which a catalogue, Works of Art in the Collection of Viscount Rothermere, was privately printed in 1932. This was edited by P.G. Konody, who acknowledged the assistance of Tancred Borenius, the Finnish art historian and editor of The Burlington Magazine, in the preparation of his catalogue entries. It is likely that both scholars helped to advise Lord Rothermere. Like many collectors of his time, Rothermere was particularly interested in early Italian pictures. The 1941 sale included fourteen Guardis and at least three others which were not included in the sale were in the collection in 1932: Konody commented (p. vi):
The Guardis ... really form a collection within a collection, unrivalled, I believe, by any other group of the master's works in public museums or in private ownership. None of them are 'important' in size, but they are selected with an eye for precious pigmental quality and with a determination to admit nothing that falls short of Guardi's highest standard of perfection
In addition to this picture, Rothermere owned three other views of San Giorgio Maggiore. Of the views from the collection that were known to Morassi, all were in Guardi's later and most spirited style. The only collector of the inter-war years who vied with Rothermere in his pursuit of Guardi was Calouste Gulbenkian, who owned no fewer than nineteen canvasses by him.
The view of San Giorgio shows the monastery without the campanile. The compositional field corresponds closely with that of the picture of almost identical size in the Lugt Collection (Paris, Fondazione Custodia; Morassi, no. 437): a picture of similar size but showing considerably more of the Riva degli Schiavoni on the left is at Turin (Galleria Sabaudia; Morassi, no. 436). Morassi notes that the present picture corresponds with a drawing in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass., in which the gondolas do not appear. Two later reductions are recorded by Morassi (nos. 459 and 460).
While San Giorgio Maggiore was a subject to which Guardi often returned, his views of the Cannaregio are very much less numerous. The most ambitious, with the Palazzo Surian-Bellotto in the centre, was supplied to the English Resident, John Strange (Morassi, no. 575): dated 1765-75 by Morassi, this is evidently of no earlier than 1771 when Strange settled in Venice. The present work relates closely to the left section of that picture. The Palazzo Surian was the seat of the French embassy: the arms on the shield above the door are those of the ambassador. Morassi records a version, perhaps by Giacomo Guardi, at Princeton.
Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (1868-1940), was with his elder brother, Alfred, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, one of the most successful -- and influential -- newspaper magnates of the early twentieth century, owning the Daily Mail, the Evening News and serving as Chairman of Associated Newspapers Ltd. He assembled 'in the course of comparatively few years' a considerable collection of pictures, of which a catalogue, Works of Art in the Collection of Viscount Rothermere, was privately printed in 1932. This was edited by P.G. Konody, who acknowledged the assistance of Tancred Borenius, the Finnish art historian and editor of The Burlington Magazine, in the preparation of his catalogue entries. It is likely that both scholars helped to advise Lord Rothermere. Like many collectors of his time, Rothermere was particularly interested in early Italian pictures. The 1941 sale included fourteen Guardis and at least three others which were not included in the sale were in the collection in 1932: Konody commented (p. vi):
The Guardis ... really form a collection within a collection, unrivalled, I believe, by any other group of the master's works in public museums or in private ownership. None of them are 'important' in size, but they are selected with an eye for precious pigmental quality and with a determination to admit nothing that falls short of Guardi's highest standard of perfection
In addition to this picture, Rothermere owned three other views of San Giorgio Maggiore. Of the views from the collection that were known to Morassi, all were in Guardi's later and most spirited style. The only collector of the inter-war years who vied with Rothermere in his pursuit of Guardi was Calouste Gulbenkian, who owned no fewer than nineteen canvasses by him.