Giovanni Canaletto is an Italian artist who worked in the veduta genre. He headed the Venetian school of Vedutists and masterfully depicted urban landscapes on canvases. Born in 1697, he learned to draw from his father, after which he helped him with the design of performances in Venetian theaters. In 1719, Canaletto visited Rome, where he first saw the paintings of Giovanni Panini, and was so impressed by the works of the Italian painter and architect that he undertook to paint his own views of Venice.
While other masters of that time made sketches, on the basis of which they created their paintings, Canaletto wrote the first works immediately from nature. Later, he preferred working in the studio, and in the process of creativity he used a pinhole camera. The paintings were popular with the British, who bought them thanks to the intermediary Joseph Smith, the British consul in Venice, an antiquarian and collector. Over time, Canaletto began to create to order, creating fantastic vedutes for English connoisseurs of painting.
In 1740, the eight-year War of the Austrian Succession broke out, and Canaletto moved to London. Here begins his English period: the artist painted palaces, houses and continued to receive income from the sale of paintings to the British. However, over time, his technique ceased to appeal to customers, and since sales became very bad, he returned to Venice. In 1763, Canaletto was elected to the Venice Academy of Arts. The artist became famous not only because of his work, he influenced the younger generation of painters, trained famous artists, including Bernardo Belloto and Francesco Guardi.
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