拍品專文
Joli, the most widely travelled of the great view painters of the eighteenth century, arrived in London from Venice by way of Dresden in 1743/4 and left for Madrid in 1749/50. Between 1744 and 1748 he is recorded as a painter of theatrical scenery, and possibly also assistant manager, at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket. He also executed a number of decorative schemes, notably that which survives in the hall of the Richmond home of the theatre's manager John James Heidegger (E. Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting in England 1537-1837, II, Feltham, 1970, p. 226 and pls. 35-6), and views of London and Richmond.
Joli's views of the City of London are of three distinct types, the main differences being in the foreground. In three of them (that in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, that sold at Sotheby's, 12 July 1989, lot 90, and that currently in the exhibition, Canaletto & England, Gas Hall Exhibition Gallery, Birmingham, 14 Oct. 1993-9 Jan. 1994, p. 102, no. 41, illustrated in colour), the view is seen through imaginary Ionic arcades. Several (including that sold at Sotheby's, 13 July 1977, lot 17, that exhibited at Colnaghi, London, Pictures from the Grand Tour, 14 Nov.-16 Dec. 1978, no. 31, and that illustrated in A. Corboz, Canaletto. Una Venezia immaginaria, Milan, 1985, I, p. 109, fig. 113) are taken from the terrace of Somerset House and are thus related to Canaletto's depictions of the same view (for which see, for instance, W. G. Constable, Canaletto, Oxford, 1962, under no. 428). In the present picture and a small version (14½ x 17½in.; formerly in the Pierre Jeannerat Collection), the viewpoint is near the south bank of the river.
What must have been a depiction of this view was among the first works executed by Joli in England. A 'piece of perspective ... painted y. Length ways of y. cloath ... per Traverso' showing a 'View of St Pauls ... a beautiful picture and veramente di buon gusto' is recorded in a letter from Owen MacSwinny to the 2nd Duke of Richmond as having been painted for Richmond House, Whitehall, in 1744, two years before Canaletto's arrival in England and adoption by the same patron (Croft-Murray, op. cit., p. 226)
Views of the City from the Thames to the West were often paired with views of Westminster from the Thames to the East. The present picture probably originally had as a pendant the View of Westminster sold at Christie's, New York, 16 January 1992, lot 42. Of identical size and also formerly identified as the work of Samuel Scott 'circa 1748', this is identified by an inscription 'Milord Oldenes/Venis' as having been executed for Robert D'Arcy, 4th Earl of Holderness (1718-1788), British Ambassador to Venice from May 1744 until the autumn of 1746
Joli's views of the City of London are of three distinct types, the main differences being in the foreground. In three of them (that in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, that sold at Sotheby's, 12 July 1989, lot 90, and that currently in the exhibition, Canaletto & England, Gas Hall Exhibition Gallery, Birmingham, 14 Oct. 1993-9 Jan. 1994, p. 102, no. 41, illustrated in colour), the view is seen through imaginary Ionic arcades. Several (including that sold at Sotheby's, 13 July 1977, lot 17, that exhibited at Colnaghi, London, Pictures from the Grand Tour, 14 Nov.-16 Dec. 1978, no. 31, and that illustrated in A. Corboz, Canaletto. Una Venezia immaginaria, Milan, 1985, I, p. 109, fig. 113) are taken from the terrace of Somerset House and are thus related to Canaletto's depictions of the same view (for which see, for instance, W. G. Constable, Canaletto, Oxford, 1962, under no. 428). In the present picture and a small version (14½ x 17½in.; formerly in the Pierre Jeannerat Collection), the viewpoint is near the south bank of the river.
What must have been a depiction of this view was among the first works executed by Joli in England. A 'piece of perspective ... painted y. Length ways of y. cloath ... per Traverso' showing a 'View of St Pauls ... a beautiful picture and veramente di buon gusto' is recorded in a letter from Owen MacSwinny to the 2nd Duke of Richmond as having been painted for Richmond House, Whitehall, in 1744, two years before Canaletto's arrival in England and adoption by the same patron (Croft-Murray, op. cit., p. 226)
Views of the City from the Thames to the West were often paired with views of Westminster from the Thames to the East. The present picture probably originally had as a pendant the View of Westminster sold at Christie's, New York, 16 January 1992, lot 42. Of identical size and also formerly identified as the work of Samuel Scott 'circa 1748', this is identified by an inscription 'Milord Oldenes/Venis' as having been executed for Robert D'Arcy, 4th Earl of Holderness (1718-1788), British Ambassador to Venice from May 1744 until the autumn of 1746