View of the Molo
View of the Molo
- Artist
- Canaletto
- Also Known As
- Antonio Canal
- Artist Dates
- 1697-1768
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- View of the Molo
- Date
- c. 1730-35
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 113 x 160.6 cm (44-1/2 x 63-1/2 in)
- K Number
- K2174
- Repository
- El Paso Museum of Art
- Accession Number
- 1961.1.49
- Notes
Provenance
Acquired in Venice by George Proctor, Langley Park, Norfolk, England; by inheritance in 1724 through his wife Anne Proctor to Thomas Beauchamp [d. 1724] to Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 1st Bart. [d. 1773], Langley Park; by inheritance to Sir Thomas Beauchamp-Proctor, 2nd Bart. [d. 1827] Langley Park; by inheritance to Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 3rd Bart, [d. 1861], Langley Park; by inheritance to Sir Thomas William Brograve Proctor-Beauchamp, 4th Bart, [d. 1874, Langley Park]; by inheritance to Sir Reginald William Proctor-Beauchamp, 5th Bart. [d. 1912], Langley Park; by inheritance to Mrs Sheila Ginevra Hilda Mary Barker-Hahlo Beauchamp [d. 1953], Langley Park; (Sale of the Trustees of Sir Reginald Proctor-Beauchamp, Sotheby's, London,11 June 1947, no. 25); Major John Roland Abbey, Greyfriars, Storrington, West Sussex, England. (David Koetser, New York); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] on 14 January 1957; gift to El Paso Museum of Art in 1961, no. 1961.1.49.
Catalogue Entry
Canaletto
View of the Molo
K2174
El Paso, Tex., El Paso Museum of Art (1961-6/41), since 1961.(1) Canvas. 44 1/2 x 63 1/4 in. (113 x 160.6 cm.). Very good condition; cleaned 1960/61. Together with its pendant, K2173, K2174 ranks as a typical example of Canaletto's style of the early 1730s.(2) Among Canaletto's several versions of the view the one most similar to K2174 is in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin,(3) a painting for which a date of about 1730 has been suggested.(4) The more finished effect of K2174 would seem to indicate a slightly later date; yet the movement of people on the walks and the arrangement of the boats nearby are remarkably similar. The large, masted barge with striped cover, which looks the same in both paintings, is repeated quite regularly in pictures of this view since the barge was used here for the detention of prisoners before they were transferred into the nearby prisons.(5) K2174 differs from the Berlin example chiefly in including a little more of the facade of the Ducal Palace at the right and in having a lower horizon and therefore a larger proportion of sky in the composition. This results, as has been noted,(6) in giving a more panoramic effect to this picture. Beyond the Ducal Palace, on the right, is the Piazzetta, with its columns of St. Mark and St. Theodore; then the Libreria di San Marco, the Zecca, the Public Granaries, the Fonteghetto della Farina, and, to the left of the entrance to the Grand Canal, the Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute, and, finally, the Redentore on the Island of the Giudecca in the distance. Provenance: Probably George Proctor, Langley Park, Norfolk.(7) Probably William Beauchamp, Langley Park, Norfolk, grandnephew of the preceding.(8) Sir Reginald Proctor-Beauchamp, Langley Park, Norfolk (sold, Sotheby's, London, June 11, 1947, no. 25, as Canaletto; bought by Major Abbey). David M. Koetser's, New York. Kress acquisition, 1957 –exhibited, after acquisition by El Paso Museum of Art: 'Art Treasures for America,' National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 1961-Feb. 4, 1962, no. 13, as Canaletto.
References
(1) Catalogue by F. R. Shapley, 1961, p. 41, as Canaletto. (2) This opinion has been expressed by V. Moschini (in ms. opinion, suggesting a date some years before 1740), R. Pallucchini (La Pittura veneziana del settecento, 1960, p. 104, placing the date before 1735), and W. G. Constable (Canaletto, vol. II, 1962, no. 88). (3) Reproduced by Moschini, Canaletto, 1954, pl. 28. (4) By Constable, no. 87 of loc. cit. in note 2, above. (5) For this nformation I am indebted to R. Pallucchini. (6) By Pallucchini, loc. cit. in note 2, above. (7) The 1947 sale catalogue cited under Provenance states that an 1815 manuscript, Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures ... at Langley Hall, Norfolk, cites K2174 and K2173 as having been painted for G. Proctor, Esq., when resident in Venice. Constable (loc. cit. in note 2, above) comments: 'This descriptive catalogue has disappeared; but in one of 1840 based upon it, the statement applies not to these pictures but to two smaller ones, formerly in the collection of Jocelyn Beauchamp (see nos. 106 and 190). It is a family tradition, however, that Proctor bought all four. The date of Proctor's visit to Venice is unknown. He bought Langley Park in 1742; the estate passed to his grandnephew, William Beauchamp, 1744, and descended to Sir Reginald Proctor-Beauchamp.' (8) See note 7, above.