Canaletto: A Venetian's View

Post

Subscribe

Sat 01 Oct 2022 - Sat 07 Jan 2023

Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum is to host a prestigious exhibition of paintings by Venetian master Canaletto, with pictures on loan from collections from across the UK.

Canaletto: A Venetian's View, between 1 October 2022 and 7 January 2023, features paintings from the Woburn Abbey Collection, Worcester's Fine Art Collection, Birmingham Museums, the Tate and Compton Verney.



Born in Venice in 1697, Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, was a leading member of the 18th century Venetian school famed for capturing scenes of the city in minute detail. His work was very popular with collectors in England, a country he visited many times. Canaletto pioneered the technique of painting from life, sitting in front of the subject outdoors as opposed to his contemporaries who completed paintings in the studio. The exhibition will explore Canaletto's work and the impact he had on the generations of artists who followed him.

It is rare for the hugely significant collection to leave Woburn Abbey, and this will be the first time the paintings will be united with other examples of Canaletto's work from Birmingham Museums and Compton Verney. The paintings on display comprise the largest set of paintings Canaletto produced for a single patron, the fourth Duke of Bedford who commissioned the works in the 1730s.

Deborah Fox, senior curator at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum, said: "We are committed to bringing great art and artists to the region and through bringing Canaletto to Worcester we are offering a once in a generation opportunity to see these incredible artworks 'on your doorstep' as well as creating an opportunity to showcase and reinterpret important works in our own collection. We see this exhibition as a wonderful opportunity not only to bring world-class art to the gallery, but also to examine its influence on some of Worcester's best-loved artworks."

The 20 paintings of Venice on loan from the Woburn Abbey Collection will be accompanied by three Canaletto works, two views of Warwick Castle on loan from Birmingham Museums and a picture of Vauxhall Gardens which would normally hang at Compton Verney.

The influence of Canaletto is explored with a work by William Marlow on loan from the Tate alongside Worcester's own collection including a view of Worcester Cathedral by Marlow and works by Paul Sandby, Samuel Prout and Samuel Rowlandson. Worcester's most famous artist BW Leader will also feature in the exhibition through the inclusion of his work February, Fill Dyke – also on loan from Birmingham Museums.

Canaletto: A Venetian's View will be accompanied by a programme of talks and tours and has been made possible with funding from Art Fund, the Elmley Foundation, Worcester City Council and Arts Worcestershire.

Ticket prices range from £8 for standard entry, £4 for Worcester residents and Art Fund members, and free for children up to 16 and Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum members. For more information and tickets see www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk

#art
#exhibitions
#indoor
#museums
#things_to_see
#west_midlands
#october
#november
#december
#january
!date 01/10/2022 -- 07/01/2023
%wnbirmingham