You don’t have to be an expert in art to appreciate the emotion that a painting can evoke. Just look at it and see what the artist sought to convey through talent and color. Then, suddenly, all those people, objects, and events immortalized on that noble canvas seem to come to life, and time stands still. This can happen when admiring works of absolute excellence by extraordinary artists such as Canaletto, Bellotto, Marieschi, and others.
All the charm and beauty of Venice can be found in Monte Carlo, with enchanting works on display through November 25 at the Lampronti Gallery: “Venice is an open-air theater, a city whose light, atmosphere, and perspective are constantly changing,” says Cesare Lampronti, his eyes lighting up with passion. He is one of the most authoritative experts on ancient Italian painting and has been in the art world for sixty years, at the helm of the family gallery.
It is an exhibition that fills the eyes with wonder and surprises with the quality of the selected works. The Canaletto painting depicting Venice and its people on November 5, 1726—the day of the arrival of French Ambassador Jacques-Vincent Languet, Count de Gergy, at the Doge’s Palace of the Most Serene Republic (oil on canvas, 182 x 262)—is magnificent. And everything along the Grand Canal—including the church of San Stae—seems to be in motion in Michele Marieschi’s sublime work (oil on canvas, 85×56).
The collection on display at the Hartford Fine Art Lampronti Gallery is titled “Lumières sur la Lagune” and includes, among others, six works by Canaletto, two by Bernardo Bellotto, three by Michele Marieschi, three by Francesco Guardi, and works by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, Francesco Albotto, and Giovanni Battista Cimaroli. Some thirty paintings by ten masters present views of Venice as a universal image. It is not, therefore, a simple succession of panoramas of the Serenissima, but a comparison among artists capable of interpreting its light, architecture, water, and daily life in profoundly different ways. This exhibition, curated by Cesare Lampronti, reflects one of his gallery’s historical areas of focus: 18th- and 19th-century Italian cityscapes, alongside Caravaggio-style painting and still life. Lampronti Gallery is located at 21 Boulevard Princesse Charlotte.
The Grand Canal with the Church of San Stae
