(Palmanova 1762–1844 Milan)
A Regatta on the Grand Canal, Venice,
oil on canvas, 40.5 x 73 cm, framed

We are grateful to Fabrizio Magani for confirming the attribution.

The present painting represents Venice charged with the excitement of a celebration. Carnival, processions, and regattas were occasions in which the whole of the city participated. Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, was arguably the most interesting painter of the Venetian landscape tradition at the close of the 18th century and into the early decades of the new century (see: Giuseppe Bernardino Bison pittore e disegnatore, exhibition catalogue, G. Bergamini/F. Magnani/G. Pavanello (eds.), Milan 1997).

Bison was a native of Palmanova del Friuli and when young he was introduced to the Venetian art world where he attained recognition as a painter of interiors. However, he gained the greatest acclaim for his vedute and landscapes so that by circa 1800, he had established an extraordinarily demanding market for his works among the wealthy bourgeois class of Trieste, who were especially attentive to collecting contemporary painting. In 1831 the artist moved to Milan, the capital of the Veneto-Lombard region, where his success continued.

In the present painting, the descriptive originality of Giuseppe Bernardino Bison is brought to the fore, animating this most emblematic view of Venice. The laws of perspective are opened up to bathe the people and their setting in sparkling light. Such works, which usually transcribed the composition from famous 18th century models, were intended to show the objective, even ‘historical’, recording of an event, but are here reinterpreted to report the event’s singular atmosphere.

In the arrangement of the present work, Bison makes use of all his academic training, which required aspiring artists to practice copying old masters. In this case, he followed the example of the most celebrated Venetian view specialist of the eighteenth century: Canaletto. In this view, which is taken from an angle that he had used previously (see for example the larger version published in the exhibition catalogue Ottocento di frontiera. Gorizia 1780-1850. Arte e Cultura (Milan 1995, p. 121) we can trace with accuracy Bison’s relationship with his models. In the present painting, the compositional invention depends on Canaletto’s plate XIII from his Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum, etched by Antonio Visentini.

More than any of his contemporaries, Bison was the 19th century counterpart to the celebrated eighteenth century master, meaning that he primarily replicated his extensive Venetian views. Taking in wide horizons and describing the buildings and palaces with attentive detail, he also recorded alterations to the urban fabric. In doing so, he drew attention to the episodes from daily life that animated the city, populated by his inventive figure groupings. According to Magani, the firm confidence with which the colour is applied allows the present work to be dated to the artist’s final Milanese years. He reached the Lombard capital in 1831 where he worked for the dealer Raffaello Tosoni who gained him sales and the opportunity to exhibit at Brera. From the inventory that Tosoni drew up of paintings received ‘per ricevuta’, (subsequently published by Carolina Piperata, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (1762-1844), Florence 1940, pp. 63-66), it is clear that Bison supplied his intermediary with numerous works after Canaletto. This list is also a notable confirmation of how strong the passion for vedute in the 18th century style remained, even among the sophisticated circles of Milanese collectors.

This newly discovered work is therefore a witness to the taste for the celebrated places, moments and views of Venice. It is an example of that ‘historical romanticism’ which was to bring the myth of Venice into being.

We are grateful to Fabrizio Magani for his help in cataloguing the present painting.