National Museum Wales announced it is able to save for the nation a painting by the 18th century Italian artist Francesco Guardi, View of the Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore on the Grand Canal.
Francesco Guardi. View of the Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore on the Grand Canal, Venice, oil on panel, 24.3 x 35.5 cm
This significant work, accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government and allocated to Amgueddfa Cymru, is an important addition to the Museum’s outstanding 18th century collections. It supplements several other depictions of Venice by artists such as Canaletto, Monet, Sickert and Whistler. The acquisition was made possible with help from membership charity the Art Fund.
Oliver Fairclough, Keeper of Art, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales said:
“This painting is the only known view of this significant Venetian Palazzo by the artist and is relatively unusual as a work that would seem to represent a specific commission.
“Despite its small scale, this exceptional and well-preserved panel is an excellent example of Guardi’s mature work. It demonstrates a combination of the topographical precision and his increasingly expressive brushwork and portrayal of light.
“It also represents a development in the historical evolution of landscape art by capturing the momentary, almost ‘impressionistic’ effects of light.”
The painting joins a small number of major works allocated by the UK Government to the Museum in lieu of tax, including Thomas Gainsbrough’s Rocky Wooded Landscape with Rustic Lovers, received in 2001.
As the value of the painting exceeded the tax owed, the Museum made a payment of £85,000, offset in part by a generous grant of £20,000 from the Art Fund. The acquisition has been on-going for about 18 months and the transfer was completed in July 2010. The painting will undergo minor cleaning before being put on display later in the year.
Over the last ten years, the Art Fund has given over £1.2m to Amgueddfa Cymru to help acquire work by celebrated artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Alfred Sisley and Pablo Picasso, as well as internationally acclaimed contemporary artists Eija-Liisa Ahtila, James Turrell and Betty Woodman.
Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, said: “We are very pleased to have given £20,000 to National Museum Wales to help buy this significant Venetian painting. Art Fund members have supported the Museum to make some major acquisitions in recent years – most recently the arresting Welsh Landscape with Two Women Knitting by William Dyce. We’re delighted that this beautiful 18th century work by Guardi is now part of Wales’ permanent collection, and we thank our members for their ongoing support.”
National Museum Cardiff is one of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ seven national museums. The others are St Fagans: National History Museum, the National Roman Legionary Museum, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, the National Wool Museum, the National Slate Museum and the National Waterfront Museum.
www.artfund.org