Guardi and Venice in the Collection of the Gulbenkian Museum

For the first time in Madrid, the museum is presenting all the works by Francesco Guardi from the collection of the Museum Calouste Gulbenkian, thanks to a collaborative agreement between the two institutions. With a total of 18 oil paintings and one drawing, Guardi is the best represented artist in the collection of more than 6,000 works of art assembled by the financier Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955), exhibited since 1969 in the museum in Lisbon that bears his name. 

Together with the paintings by Guardi, acquired between 1907 and 1921, there will also be a drawing which entered the Museum Gulbenkian in 2002 and an oil painting by the artist’s son Giacomo. The works to be shown in Madrid date from 1765 to 1791 and depict iconic locations in Venice, including the Rialto Bridge and the Doge's Palace, festivals such as the Ascension, the area surrounding the city, and various “capriccios” from the end of the artist’s career. 

After an initial stage in which he worked principally as a painter of historical and religious subjects, frescoes and even still lifes, Guardi began to paint views of his city, initially following the precise style of his predecessor Canaletto then later adding vitality and illusionism to his compositions. After Canaletto's death in 1768 he became the most important vedutista in Venice.