05 Paintings of the Canals of Venice by the artists of their time, with foot notes. #11

Umberto Ongania, (Italian, born 1875 - 1942)
A Regatta on the Grand Canal, Venice 
Oil on canvas
28 x 36cm (11 x 14 3/16in
Private collection

On the first Sunday of September takes place the Historical Regatta ("Regata Storica"), a competition between Venetian boats watched by thousands of people from the banks or from floating stands. Competitions are preceded by a historical procession ("Corteo Storico") remembering the entrance of the Queen of Cyprus Catherine Cornaro after abdication in 1489: gondoliers in costumes sail in typical 16th century boats following the Bucentaur, doge's state galley. More on the Regatta

Umberto Ongania (Venice 1867-1942) was an Italian painter, mainly of vedute of his native city. He painted both watercolors and oils. He exhibited in 1887 at Venice, La Porta della Carta, and in 1888 at Bologna, Il Palazzo Ducale di Venezia. He continued to paint until the first decades of the twentieth century.

He was one of the many illustrators who collaborated in the illustration of a book on the Basilica of San Marco, with text by Camillo Boito. More on Umberto Ongania

Marc Aldine, (French, 1870-1956)
La Riva Degli Schiavoni - Venice 
Oil on canvas
38.1 x 55.9cm (15 x 22in).
Private collection

The Riva degli Schiavoni is a waterfront in VeniceItaly. There is a lively - albeit often overcrowded - promenade along the waterfront. It sits on St. Mark's Basin. It was originally built in the ninth century from dredged silt and was named for the Slavic men who brought cargo to Venice from across the Adriatic Sea. More on Riva degli Schiavoni

ANDRE BOUVARD dit MARC ALDINE, (1875-1957). Antoine Bouvard Senior, also known as Marc Aldine was born at St. Jean-de-Bournay in L'Isere. He trained as an architect and studied art and architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He became the Director of Architectural Services for the Seine, and was responsible for the construction of the Bourse du Travail and the Boulevard Morland in Paris.

His paintings show the influence of Felix Ziem, reflecting his love of Venice in the delicacy and fluidity of his use of colour, capturing in his paintings, the warmth and beauty that he found there. Known as a painter of Venetian subjects, he worked during the early part of the 20th century, becoming one of the most prolific painters of Venetian genre from this period. Bouvard’s works are broad and confidently painted, capturing all the atmosphere and charm of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. He exhibited throughout France and Italy as well as in many provincial European galleries during his own lifetime. His popularity has continued to the present day, placing him amongst the most recognized and respected painters of Venetian subjects. More on Marc Aldine

Antoine Bouvard, (French, 1870-1956)
Looking towards the Grand Canal, Venice
Oil on canvas 
65.5 x 92.5cm (25 13/16 x 36 7/16in
Private collection

The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. Public transport is provided by water buses and private water taxis, and many tourists explore the canal by gondola.

One end of the canal leads into the lagoon near the Santa Lucia railway station and the other end leads into Saint Mark Basin; in between, it makes a large reverse-S shape through the central districts of Venice. More Grand Canal

Antoine Bouvard, St. Jean-de-Bournay, 1870 - 1956 was a French landscape painter. He studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Constant-Dufeus and became director of a. government agency of architecture. In his paintings he specialized in views of Venice. More on Antoine Bouvard

Guglielmo Ciardi, (1842 - 1917)
Canal in Venice
oil on canvas
57.5 by 101cm., 22½ by 40in.
Private collection

Guglielmo Ciardi (13 September 1842 – 5 October 1917) was an Italian painter. He was born in Venice, the son of an official of the Austrian government. Ciardi enrolled in 1861 at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied perspective with Federico Moja and landscape and seascape with Domenico Bresolin, taking over the latter’s teaching post in 1894. He went to Florence in 1868 and formed friendships with Giovanni Costa and the Macchiaioli painters. After spending some time in the countryside around Rome, he then arrived in Naples and came into contact with Filippo Palizzi and the artists of the Resina School. On his return to Venice the following year, he resumed his regular participation in the exhibitions of the Academy and the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti. Works were also sent to exhibitions in Milan, Turin, Genoa, Florence and Naples in the 1870s and 1880s. The following decade saw participation in the Milan Triennale, the Turin Exhibition of 1898 and the Venice Biennale from 1895 to 1914, with a solo show in 1909. Views of the Venetian lagoon and the countryside around Treviso were accompanied by mountain landscapes painted during his numerous stays in towns in Veneto, Trentino and Lombardy. Awarded a gold medal in 1915 at the San Francisco Exhibition, where the participants included his children Beppe and Emma, he was struck down by paralysis and died two years later. More on Guglielmo Ciardi

Henry Pember Smith, (American, 1854-1907)

Venice, circa 1890

Oil on canvas

25 x 35-1/2 inches (63.5 x 90.2 cm)
Private collection

Henry Pember Smith (February 20, 1854 – October 16, 1907) was an American painter, best known for his depictions of country cottages and river scenes around Lyme and East Lyme, Connecticut, and paintings of the sea and shore in New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Cape Ann to Maine.

Smith was born in Waterford, Connecticut. During the 1880s, he studied the Old Masters in Paris, Brittany, Normandy, Venice and along the English Cornish coast. He was a member of the Artists' Fund Society and the American Water Color Society, and exhibited at the National Academy of Design from 1877-1896, 1899, 1901, 1906; the Brooklyn Art Club (1878-1885, 1892); Boston Art Club (1880-1890); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (1881, 1888); and the Art Institute of Chicago. Smith died of heart disease in Asbury, New Jersey. More on Henry Pember Smith




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09 Paintings of the Canals of Venice by the artists of their time, with foot notes. #10

Edward William Cooke, 1811 - 1880
A Venetian veduta with Santa Maria della Salute, c. 1851
Oil on canvas
44 x 76 cm
Private collection


Santa Maria della Salute, commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy.

It stands on the narrow finger of Punta della Dogana, between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, at the Bacino di San Marco, making the church visible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. The Salute is part of the parish of the Gesuati and is the most recent of the so-called plague-churches.

The dome of the Salute was an important addition to the Venice skyline and soon became emblematic of the city, inspiring artists like Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, John Singer Sargent, and Francesco Guardi. More on Santa Maria della Salute,


Edward William Cooke, R.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S., F.S.A., F.G.S. (27 March 1811 – 4 January 1880) was an English landscape and marine painter, and gardener. Cooke was born in Pentonville, London. He was raised in the company of artists. He was a precocious draughtsman and a skilled engraver from an early age, displayed an equal preference for marine subjects and published his "Shipping and Craft" a series of accomplished engravings when he was 18, in 1829. Cooke began painting in oils in 1833, and first exhibited at the Royal Academy and British Institution in 1835, by which time his style was essentially formed.

He went on to travel and paint with great industry at home and abroad, indulging his love of the 17th-century Dutch marine artists with a visit to the Netherlands in 1837. He returned regularly over the next 23 years, studying the effects of the coastal landscape and light, as well as the works of the country's Old Masters, resulting in highly successful paintings. He went on to travel in Scandinavia, Spain, North Africa and, above all, to Venice. In 1858, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. . More Edward William Cooke

Helen Allingham RWS (British, 1848-1926)
A Venetian doorway 
Watercolour
37.8 x 26.4cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/8in).
Private collection

The relief sculpture above the doorway has been attributed to Pietro Lombardo (c.1438-1515) and depicts Saint Mark healing the cobbler Anianus. The doorway is located in the Campo san Tomá in Venice on a building the was once the headquarters of the shoemakers' guild, the Scuola dei Calegheri. More on this painting

Helen Allingham RWS (British, 1848-1926), see below

Helen Allingham RWS (British, 1848-1926)
Morning at the Quay, Venice, late 19th century
Watercolor
15 × 24 cm (5.9 × 9.4 in)
Private collection

Helen Allingham RWS (née Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was an English watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Helen was the eldest of seven children. In 1862 her father and her 3-year-old sister Isabel died of diphtheria during an epidemic. The family then moved to Birmingham, where some of Alexander Paterson's family lived.

Paterson showed a talent for art from an early age. She initially studied art for three years at the Birmingham School of Design. From 1867 she attended the National Art Training School in London, which had a separate division for women; her aunt Laura Herford had previously studied there. The School is presently the Royal College of Art

While studying at the National Art Training School, Paterson worked as an illustrator, eventually deciding to give up her studies in favour of a full-time career in art. She painted for children's and adult books, as well as for periodicals, including The Graphic newspaper.


On 22 August 1874 she married William Allingham. After her marriage she gave up her career as an illustrator and turned to watercolour painting. In 1881 the family moved from Chelsea to Witley in Surrey. Helen started to paint the countryside around her and particularly the farmhouses and cottages of Surrey and Sussex for which she became famous.  She went on to paint rural scenes in other parts of the country, and abroad in Venice, Italy. In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society. More on Helen Allingham


Patrick William Adam, R.S.A., 1854-1929
ST. ZACCARIA, VENICE, c. 1912
Oil on canvas
114.5 by 63.5cm., 45 by 25in.
Private collection

Zechariah is a figure in the Bible and the Quran. In the Bible, he is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron, a prophet in Luke 1:67–79, and the husband of Elizabeth who is a relative of the Virgin Mary.

Zechariah is also venerated in Islam as a prophet, and is mentioned in the Qur'an as the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah is also believed by some Muslims to have been a martyr. Zechariah was a righteous priest and prophet of God whose office was in the temple of prayer in Jerusalem. More on Zechariah

The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is dedicated to St. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.

The first church on the site was founded by Doge Giustiniano Participazio in the early 9th century to house the body of the saint to which it is dedicated, a gift of the Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian. The remains of various doges are buried in the crypt of the church. The original church was was replaced by a Gothic church in the 15th century. The remains of this building still stand, as the present church was built beside and not over it.

The present church was built between 1458 and 1515.  Nearly every wall is covered with paintings by 17th and 18th century artists. The church houses one of the most famous work by Giovanni Bellini, the San Zaccaria Altarpiece. The walls of the aisles and of the chapels host paintings by other artists including Andrea del Castagno, Palma Vecchio, Tintoretto, Giuseppe Porta, Palma il  More on The Church of San Zaccaria 

Patrick William Adam, R.S.A., 1854-1929 was born in Edinburgh, the son of a well-known lawyer. Choosing a career in the arts instead of the law, Adam studied at the Royal Scottish Academy under George Paul Chalmers and William McTaggart. He first exhibited at the RSA at the age of 18, eventually showing a total of 164 paintings there. His travels abroad took him to Rome, Venice and Russia. Although Adam’s varied output includes portraits, landscapes, and still life, he is now best remembered for his genre paintings and interiors, which he painted in his North Berwick studio from 1908 onwards. More on Patrick William Adam

VENETIAN SCHOOL, 18TH CENTURY
Venice, the entrance to the Arsenal
Oil on canvas
30 3/4 by 37 in.; 78 by 94 cm.
Private collection

This scene of Venice in the evening is a view of the entrance to the Venetian Arsenale, a complex of shipyards and armories in the northern part of the city that today serve as a reminder of Venice's great naval history.  While this was not a very common image of the city, both Canaletto and Francesco Guardi also completed paintings of this view. More on this scene

The Venetian school had a great influence of subsequent painting, and the history of later Western art has been described as a dialogue between the more intellectual and sculptural/linear approach of the Florentine and Roman traditions, and the more sensual, poetic, and pleasure-seeking of the colourful Venetian school. 


Although not considered part of the Venetian school, it provided the backdrop to 18th-century Venetian painting, which had a final flowering in Tiepolo's decorative painting and Canaletto's and Guardi's panoramic views. The extinction of the Republic by French Revolutionary armies in 1797 effectively brought the distinctive Venetian style to an end; it had at least arguably outlasted its rival Florence in that respect. More on The Venetian school

 CARLO GRUBACS, Venice 1802 - 1870 Venice
Venice, a view of the Porta della Carta and the Palazzo Ducale from the corner of Saint Mark's Square
 6 3/8 by 4 3/8 in.; 16 by 11.1 cm
Private collection

The Porta della Carta with its crowning figure of Justice is the entrance to the court of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. It was executed by Bartolomeo and Giovanni Bon.

The Porta has a simple and effective iconographic program, with the statue of Justice at the apex. Four other virtues - Fortitude, Temperance, Charity, and Prudence - occupy the niches at either side, a bust of St Mark occupies the roundel in the tympanum, and a portrait of Doge Foscari, removed in the Napoleonic period and now replaced by a replica, kneels before the lion of St Mark over the door. The window traceries are as ornate as any to be seen in Venice.  (See below) More on The Porta della Carta

The Doge's Palace/Palazzo Ducale is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice, opening as a museum in 1923. Today, it is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. More on The Doge's Palace/Palazzo Ducale

GRUBACS, Carlo, (b. 1812, Venezia, d. 1870, Venezia) is an Italian painter of animated urban waterscapes and architectural features. Carlo Grubacs was born in Venice in 1812. The son of a Merchant Navy captain whose family, originally from Montenegro, had settled in Italy in the second half of the 18th century, he belonged to the Venetian school of 'Vedutista' which had flourished with artists like Canaletto and Francesco Guardi in the 18th century.
He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he exhibited his works in 1847, 1855, 1858 and 1864. His paintings, often of a small size, offer carefully detailed and lively views of Venice, executed in the tradition of 19th century Venetian Vedute where the artist combines a smart and skillful drawing with a bright and luminous palette. More on CARLO GRUBACS

Porta della Carta, 1438-42
Istrian stone, marble, gilding and paint
Palazzo Ducale, Venice

Richard Price, (British, born 1962)
April, San Marco 
Oil on canvas board
56 x 46cm (22 1/16 x 18 1/8in).
Private collection

Piazza San Marco or St. Mark’s Square is the main public square in Venice.  The Piazza is located in front of the great Byzantine church known as Basilica di San Marco. This Piazza is surrounded by shops, caffè’s and palazzi on three sides. According to local legend Napoleon called the Piazza San Marco “the drawing room of Europe.” More on Piazza San Marco
Richard Price (British, born 1962) is a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and sells his work internationally. He has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal College of Arts. Richard is Artist in Residence for Jubilee Year at the Hurlingham Club.


Richard’s work is concerned with light and atmosphere. While some of his work is done in the studio, Richard is predominantly an ‘en plein air’ painter and most of his work is therefore painted immediately in front of his subject.

The challenge of this type of work is in being able to rapidly analyze colour and tone at the same time as capturing the constantly moving drama of the environment. More on Richard Price

Martín Rico y Ortega, 1833 - 1908
PONTE DELL'ANGELO
Oil on canvas laid down on board
28 3/4 by 19 3/8 in., 73 by 49.2 cm
Private collection

This present work situates the viewer on the Ponte dell'Angelo, which crosses the intersections of the Rio de San Zulan and the Rio de Santa Maria Formosa. According to Venetian lore, the carved angel on the north western side of the Palazzo Soranzo, which Rico has placed at upper right of the composition, relates to an event said to have taken place in 1552. A lawyer from the Curia of the Doge, who lived in the Palazzo with his pet monkey, invited a friar to his home for dinner. Recognizing that the monkey was the Devil, intent on taking the lawyer’s soul, the friar immediately expelled the creature from his host’s home. On his way out, however, the creature made a small hole in the wall through which he planned to return. This "Devil's Hole" is visible in the present work, just above the head of the angel which was subsequently carved into the building to prevent evil's return. More on this painting

Martín Rico y Ortega (12 November 1833, El Escorial – 13 April 1908, Venice, Italy) was a Spanish painter of landscapes and cityscapes. Rico was one of the most important artists of the second half of the nineteenth century in his native country, and enjoyed wide international recognition.

Rico was born in Madrid and received his earliest formal training at the city’s Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he studied under Jenaro Pérez Villaamil. In 1860, having been awarded a government-sponsored scholarship, Rico moved to Paris to continue his studies.

His landscapes depict the French and Swiss countryside in a fully accomplished Realist style. Toward the end of 1870, due to political and social unrest caused by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Rico decided to leave France and return to his native Spain.


Rico moved to the southern city of Granada, joining Fortuny and his wife Cecilia, as well as the painter Ricardo de Madrazo. The three artists worked closely during this period, with the styles of Rico and Fortuny overlapping so much that their watercolors—a specialty for both artists—were often confused for one another. It was during this time that, through Fortuny’s influence, Rico’s paintings began to reveal a newfound sense of luminosity and color. His time in Andalucía was, according to his memoirs, one of his happiest, and also one of his most artistically productive periods. More on Martín Rico y Ortega















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We do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.



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01 Work of the Canals of Venice, Martín Rico y Ortega's Gondolier in a Venetian Canal, with footnotes. #125

Martín Rico y Ortega, Spanish, 1833 - 1908 Gondolier in a Venetian Canal Oil on canvas 20 by 16⅛ in.; 50.8 by 41 cm Private collectio...