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The splendour of the tragic sea Francesco Guardi and maritime painting in Venetian art No Venetian painter was a stranger to the sea. After all, Venice was not only one of the most prominent ports of the Mediterranean, but indeed a city literally submerged in the ocean from time to time. Curiously however, the famous Venetian school of painting showed little interest in maritime motifs, favouring scenes from the iconic architecture of the city rather than seascapes. That is why this painting is a particularly interesting window into not only the painter Francesco Guardi himself – but to the significance of the element of water in art history, in absence as well as in the centre of attention. Whether it be calm, sunny days with stunning views of the palaces alongside the canals of Venice or – more rarely – stormy shipwrecking tragedies at sea, water as a unifying element is integral to the works of painter Francesco Guardi (1712–1793). During his lifetime, Venetian art saw many of its greatest triumphs with names like Tiepolo or Canaletto gaining international recognition and firmly establishing Venice as one of the most vibrant artistic communities of Europe. While the city itself already in the 18th century was something of an early tourist spot where aristocrats and high society visited on their grand tour or travels, the artists too contributed to the fame and their work spread the image of Venice as the city of romance and leisure to an international audience, many of whom could never visit in person. Still today, the iconic image of Venice with its whimsical array of palaces, churches and other historic buildings is much influenced by these artists, many of whom have stood the test of time like very well and remain some of the most beloved in all of art history. It was not primarily subtility, intellectual meanings or moral ideals that the Venetian art tried to capture; instead it was the sheer vibrancy of life and the fast-paced city with crumbling palaces and festive people that made this atmosphere so special. Of course, Venice could count painters in most genres among its residents, from portraiture to religious motifs, history painting and much else. Still, it is the Vedutas and views of the city that seems to have etched itself into our memory more than anything else, not least in the tradition of Canaletto who was perhaps the undisputed master of all Venetian painters. Born into his profession, Francesco lived and breathed painting all his life. His father, the painter Domenico Guardi (1678–1716) died when Francesco was just a small child, yet both he and his brothers Niccolò and Gian Antonio continued in their fathers’ footsteps. The Guardi family belonged to the nobility and originated from the mountainous area of Trentino, not far from the Alps. The brothers worked together on more challenging commissions and supported each other in the manner typical of family workshops or networks of artists. Their sister Maria Cecilia married no other than the artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo himself, linking the family to the most renowned Venetian name of the time. During almost a decade, Guardi worked in the studio of Michele Giovanni Marieschi, sometimes simply known as Michiel, a painted similar in both style and motif. Canaletto is, however, the artist Guardi is most often compared to since they shared a mutual fascination for depicting the architecture and cityscape of Venice. During the course of his career, Guardi tried his hand in many different genres. He was as swift in painting landscapes, Vedutas of Venice, sacred motifs, interiors and architectural compositions as he was in a number of other motifs. His style is typical of the Venetian school but also distinct and personal once we look a little closer. There is an absolute certainty in the composition, the choice of which sometimes feels like that of a carefully calculated photograph – yet it is also very painterly, in the best sense of the word: fluid, bold, sensitive and full of character. The brushwork is rapid, intense, seemingly careless and extraordinarily minute at the same time; fresh and planned in a very enjoyable mixture. His interiors often capture the breath-taking spacious glamour of the palaces and all their exquisite decor. He usually constructed the motif through remarkably simple, almost spontaneous yet intuitively precise strokes and shapes. The result was a festive, high-spirited atmospheric quality, far away from the sterile and exact likeness that other painters fell victim to when trying to copy Canaletto. The painting here has nothing of the city of Venice in it. On the contrary, we seem to be transported far away into the solitary ocean, with no architecture, nothing to hold on to – only the roaring sea and the dangerous cliffs upon which the ships are just moments away from being crushed upon. It is a maritime composition evoking both Flemish and Italian precursors, in the proud tradition of maritime painting that for centuries formed a crucial part of our visual culture. This genre of painting is today curiously overlooked, compared to how esteemed and meaningful it was when our relationship to the sea was far more natural than it is today. When both people and goods travelled by water, and many nations and cities – Venice among them – depended entirely on sea fare, the existential connection to the ocean was much more natural and integrated into the imagination. The schools and traditions of maritime art are as manifold as there are countries connected to the sea, and all reflect the need to process the dangers and wonders of the ocean. It could symbolize opportunity, the exciting prospects of a new countries and adventures, prospering trade, beautiful scenery as well as war and tragedy, loss of life, danger and doom. To say that water is ambivalent in nature is an understatement, and these many layers were something that artists explored in the most wondrous ways. Perhaps it takes a bit more time for the modern eye to identify the different nuances and qualities of historic maritime paintings, they may on first impression seem hard to differentiate from each other. But when allowing these motifs to unfold and tell stories of the sea in both fiction and reality – or somewhere in between – we are awarded with an understanding of how the oceans truly built our world. In Guardi’s interpretation, we see an almost theatrically arranged shipwrecking scene. No less than five ships are depicted right in the moment of utter disaster. Caught in a violent storm, the waves have driven them to a shore of sharp cliffs and if not swallowed by the waves, crushing against the cliffs seems to be the only outcome. The large wooden ships are impressively decorated with elaborate sculpture, and in fact relics already during Guardi’s lifetime. They are in fact typical of Dutch and Flemish 17th century ships, giving us a clue to where he got the inspiration from. Guardi must have seen examples of Flemish maritime art, that made him curious about these particular motifs. One is reminded of Flemish painters like Willem van de Velde and Ludolf Backhuysen, and this very painting has indeed been mistakenly attributed to Matthieu van Plattenberg...

Louisa Chase was born in Panama City, Panama. Seven years later, her family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She studied painting and sculpture at Syracuse University and at the Ya...

Views of Hotel Well I, from Moving Focus series (T. 280; DH. 67). Lithograph printed in colors on TGL handmade paper. Hand signed, dated and numbered by the artist. original Artist's...

Morgan Library II New York 50 x 62.4 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 60 x 74.9 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 70 x 87.5 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso Paper is trim...

Acrylic painting on canvas, 2021. Signed, titled and dated on the back. Framed. The artwork comes directly from the artist's studio. Dimensions: Height 52.56 in ( 133,5 cm ), Width ...

Artist: Jack Graves III (American, 1988-) Title: "Diamond XIII" Series: Diamond *Signed, dated, and titled by Graves on verso Year: 2019 Medium: Original Acrylic Painting on Canvas C...

Quaint mid-century painting of a cabin interior and view by Leslie Buck (American, 1907-1991), 1930. A realistic "slice of life" rendition of the cabin interior provides an image of the artist's life. Various cooking items sit on shelves below the right window, with the sink and water pump below the window on the left. Signed on verso. Description "Kitchen Corner" Davis's Rental Cottage, Porter Beach, Indiana 1930 written on verso. Presented in a wood frame. Image, 7.5"H x 8.5"L. Born in Chicago, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and with Claude Buck after their marriage in 1934. With her husband, she moved to the Santa Cruz mountains...

A painting by Penelope Gottlieb. "Castilleja cruenta standl" is a contemporary painting, ink, acrylic and oil on canvas panel in a variety of bright, bold colors by American artist Penelope Gottlieb. After receiving her BFA from the Art Center College for Design in Pasadena, Penelope Gottlieb went on to earn her MFA from the University of California in Santa Barbara where she currently lives and works. Gottlieb’s artistic repertoire is thoroughly modern and includes innovative paintings as well as compelling media design, for which she received an Emmy in the field of motion picture title design in 1993. Gottlieb’s more recent works showcase a unique synthesis of her modern graphic design background and the vintage botanical renderings of natural scientists. However, her paintings are also unique in their perspective on the traditional floral still life. Stylized flora and fauna are depicted as emanating from a comic book explosion, illustrating what the artist refers to as “the dire state of the planet” as faced with species extinction and the resulting biological and ecological ramifications. These violent representations of the artistically typified placid natural world are intended as “visual eulogies for lost plant life.” The particular specimens that Gottlieb depicts are in fact extinct and she is able to recreate them only from historical drawings and botanist’s descriptions. Although avant-garde and aesthetically unique, Gottlieb’s paintings delineate clear influences from the renowned artists of Pop and Expressionist art. The composition of many of her paintings is reminiscent of Kandinsky’s canvas-filling outpours while her bold color palette and black outlines recall Lichtenstein’s comic book panels. Her work is also closely related to a more contemporary group of artists, including Alexis Rockman...

Francis Bacon color lithograph on Arches paper. Edition 50 of 180. Not framed. MOURLOT IMP - stamped on bottom left DESCHAMPS LITH. - stamped on bottom right

Keith Haring Fun Gallery 1983: Original 1983 Keith Haring illustrated exhibition poster published on the occasion of Haring's historic 1983 show at the Fun Gallery in the East Village. A classic array of early Haring imagery that reveals red and black interlocking figures. A rare example in very good overall vintage condition. Offset lithograph in colors on smooth wove paper. 23 x 29 inches. Only some minor signs of handling; in otherwise very good overall vintage condition with strong colors; one of the better examples we've come across. Stored away from light; never mounted or framed. Unsigned from an edition of unknown; scarce. Catalog Raisonne: Keith Haring: Posters (Prestel Publishing). References: Included in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. About the Fun Gallery: Historic, short-lived, East Village gallery known for giving Keith Haring, Basquiat & Kenny Scharf some of their first solo shows. “FUN Gallery was a place where neighborhood kids, downtown artists, b-boys, rock, film, and rap stars mixed with museum directors art historians and uptown collectors at wild openings featuring artists like Futura, Fab 5...

The marvellous bumblebee… The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others. St. John Chrysostom Guy Allen’s etchings inspired by the fauna of rural...

50 x 54 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 60 x 64.7 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 70 x 75.5 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner, with his large format pho...

signed by artist

The boy Bôtarô watches his nurse Otsuji haul a bucket of water from the well. From the kabuki play Osanago no adauchi. Most interesting is the lush backdrop of lotus flowers and pump...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 5% IMPORT DUTY ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE The Gates (Project for Central Park, New York City) by Christo (1935-2020) Collage, pencil, enamel paint, photograph by Wolfgang Volz, wax crayon and tape 35.5 x 56 cm (14 x 22 inches) Signed and dated lower left and inscribed on the reverse, Christo 1998 Provenance Private collection, Germany This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Jonathan Henery on behalf of the Estate of Christo V. Javacheff. The Gates, Project For Central Park is probably one of the most iconic and most recognizable of Christo's projects and the works around it are amongst the most sought after by international collectors. Artisti biography Christo Javacheff was born in 1935 in Gabrova, in Communist Bulgaria. Dropping his surname, Christo studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia (1953–56) before defecting to the West, via Prague, in 1957. That year, he spent one semester at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna and moved to Paris in 1958 where he met his future wife and artistic collaborator, Moroccan-born Jeanne-Claude de Guillebon (d. 2009). Indebted to Vladimir Tatlin's Constructivist edict "real materials in real space," Christo's first artworks, dating from 1958, consist of appropriated everyday objects such as bottles, cans...

Madame Jean Serpieri sits in the ballroom of the Tour La Reine near Athens, wearing a gown which belonged to the wife of Otto, the first king of m...

CASTELLO RACCONIGI 2007 Chromogenic print Edition of 5 Signed, dated, and numbered on verso label Mounted on aluminum Framing options available 39.5 x 47.5 inches edition of 5 ...

Woodblock print from the Edo period. The print was apart of a series that Hiroshige did titled, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo". The woodblock print is printed on rice paper. The p...

Acrylic on canvas 72 x 52 in Unstretched Vicky Barranguet found her own voice and colorful expression of life, emotions, and music through her studies with master painters, Larry Pons and William Scharf. Her spontaneous and daring paintings combined with other art forms led to the creation of her vibrant artistic approach. She was awarded with a Merit Scholarship from the judges...

"Couleur Additive Perseus" has a stunning appearance and an optical effect, which catches the beholder's attention from the very first time. Carlos Cruz-Diez from Venezuela was one o...

Charming interior scene by a unknown artist (American, 20th Century). Slanting light enters the room from the viewer's left, illuminating part of the large desk at the center of the ...

Color woodcut/lithograph triptych, Edition 30. A Single Joy of Song is Betty Woodman’s last print. We began discussing this project with her in 2016. She sent a large three part study that would make a wonderful woodcut. Betty made plans to come to Shark’s Ink...