Francesco Guardi

Born. 05.10.1712 in Venice
Died. 01.01.1793 in Venice

Italian vedute and landscape painter

About the artist

Francesco Guardi was born on 5 October 1712 in Venice. He worked in the family’s painting workshop. At the beginning of his career, he first painted altarpieces, but as a pupil and successor of Canaletto, he focussed on veduta, (a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting), after Canaletto had left the city.

Guardi chose the same Venetian landscape motifs that Canaletto had successfully painted. Adapting his style of intense light and shadows. Some of Guardi’s paintings are capriccios – landscape or architectural compositions that combine real elements such as recognisable buildings or monuments with elements of fantasy or imagination. His paintings have clear, even lighting and an atmospheric mood. With bold colours and are more intense than his predecessor. Even though he applied a lot of his touches to his work, his work is genuinely connected to his teacher.

Gaurdi died on 1 January 1793 in Venice aged 81.