(Venice 1697-1768)
The Arsenal Gates, Venice
oil on canvas, 89 x 105.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

The present painting has been attributed to Wiliam James (active in London 1755-1775) by Dario Succi.

According to the Anecdotes of Painters by Edward Edwards (1738-1806), published posthumously in 1808, William James was an assistant and pupil of Canaletto during the Venetian artist’s long period of residence in London, from 1746 to 1756 and James was highly appreciated as a painter in eighteenth-century England. His London views were exhibited in 1767 and 1771 on the occasion of the annual show at the Society of Artists. The 1767 exhibition presented two pictures depicting The west end of Westminster Bridge; the 1768 one had a picture showing Blackfriars Bridge, as in the year 1757. Other views showing Blackfriars Bridge from Somerset Gardens and Westminster from the Adelphi were displayed in the 1771 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (Catalogue 1771, nos. 108 and 109). As is often the case with William James‘s views of Venice, which in reality he never saw, this painting too is based on a prototype by Canaletto, and specifically on a work forming part of the splendid series of twenty-four views of Venice in the collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey (Constable, Links, Canaletto, 1989 ed., n. 271, pl. 53) which were commissioned from the Venetian artist by the fourth Duke (1710-1771) around 1732. Iconographically and chromatically, this picture is almost identical to Canaletto’s picture, from which it differs in terms of its larger size (90 x 114 cm; Canaletto’s picture measures 47 x 78.8 cm). Developing the view vertically, William James here conferred an airiness and lightness to the composition, considerably expanding the portion of sky visible over the gates of the Arsenal.

Succi dates the present painting to between the sixth and seventh decade of the eighteenth century on the basis of stylistic details and use of colour painting and Succi states that it displays the typical characteristics of William James‘s work: a firm control of perspective, a precise rendering of architectural details, the confident macchiette or patches echoing models by Canaletto, and the greyish to light-blue hues of the sky. For a meaningful stylistic comparison, see William James‘s painting showing Horse Guards Parade from St. James‘s Park, formerly in the possession of the Rafael Valls Gallery in London, which was displayed in the important exhibition held in Birmingham in 1993 entitled “Canaletto & England” (exhibition catalogue, no. 57).

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Dario Succi for suggesting the attribution.

According to the Anecdotes of Painters by Edward Edwards (1738-1806), published posthumously in 1808, William James was an assistant and pupil of Canaletto during the Venetian artist’s long period of residence in London, from 1746 to 1756 and James was highly appreciated as a painter in eighteenth-century England. His London views were exhibited in 1767 and 1771 on the occasion of the annual show at the Society of Artists. The 1767 exhibition presented two pictures depicting The west end of Westminster Bridge; the 1768 one had a picture showing Blackfriars Bridge, as in the year 1757. Other views showing Blackfriars Bridge from Somerset Gardens and Westminster from the Adelphi were displayed in the 1771 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (Catalogue 1771, nos. 108 and 109). As is often the case with William James‘s views of Venice, which in reality he never saw, this painting too is based on a prototype by Canaletto, and specifically on a work forming part of the splendid series of twenty-four views of Venice in the collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey (Constable, Links, Canaletto, 1989 ed., n. 271, pl. 53) which were commissioned from the Venetian artist by the fourth Duke (1710-1771) around 1732. Iconographically and chromatically, this picture is almost identical to Canaletto’s picture, from which it differs in terms of its larger size (90 x 114 cm; Canaletto’s picture measures 47 x 78.8 cm). Developing the view vertically, William James here conferred an airiness and lightness to the composition, considerably expanding the portion of sky visible over the gates of the Arsenal.

Succi dates the present painting to between the sixth and seventh decade of the eighteenth century on the basis of stylistic details and use of colour painting and Succi states that it displays the typical characteristics of William James‘s work: a firm control of perspective, a precise rendering of architectural details, the confident macchiette or patches echoing models by Canaletto, and the greyish to light-blue hues of the sky. For a meaningful stylistic comparison, see William James‘s painting showing Horse Guards Parade from St. James‘s Park, formerly in the possession of the Rafael Valls Gallery in London, which was displayed in the important exhibition held in Birmingham in 1993 entitled “Canaletto & England” (exhibition catalogue, no. 57).