By Anne Leader
Francesco Guardi died on New Year’s Day 1793 in Venice, where he had spent his career as a veduta painter. Though Francesco attempted other picture types, his greatest success and lasting reputation have come from his views of Venice (vedute), popular with foreigners on The Grand Tour as souvenirs. Also popular were his capricci, architectural fantasies popular with native Venetians that mix styles, eras, and monuments into single compositions.
Reference: James Byam Shaw. “Guardi.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Further reading: Francesco Guardi 1712-1793
External image by F. Pedrocco and A. Craievich (2012).
Venice from the Bacino di San Marco, ca. 1760. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Adele L. Lehman, in memory of Arthur Lehman, 1965.
Piazza San Marco, 1750s. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950.
Architectural fantasy with a courtyard, 1780s. Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
An Architectural capriccio. 18th century. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 1999