Venetian School (18th Century)

Artist: Venetian School (18th Century).
Title: Capriccio with figures adorning a fountain (Circa 1740).
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Framed Size: Height 40.5 cm x Width 47.5 cm x Depth 5 cm.
Image Size: Height 25.5 cm x Width 32.5 cm.
Condition: The painting has recently undertaken conservation with a tear-repaired top centre. Varnish removal, surface clean and re-varnish. There is craquelure to the paint surface, but the paint is in a stable condition. Previous early restoration consists of canvas relining and over-paint to canvas extremities. The Frame is a 19th-century gilt frame in the Rocco style, that has been cut and assembled to fit the work. There are some minor losses and repairs to the edging of the frame. Conservation report with details of work undertaken available on request.

Provenance: Private Collection Sydney Australia. The Collection of Rodney Davidson AO OBE LLB G. Page Cooper Collection, thence sold at the G. Page Cooper, 1936 auction held at the Melbourne Town Hall, Leonard Joel's auction rooms, and the house of G. Page Cooper. Auctioneers: Leonard Joel, K. Gardner & Lang, Baillieu, Allard. The painting has significant provenance regarding its Australian custodianship.

G. Page Cooper was a well-known art dealer and collector, especially known for his extensive collection of fine European and Australian works of art. Cooper decided to change his collection from traditional European, to Contemporary Australian Art, subsequently auctioning off a large part of his European collection in 1936.

Cooper went on to become one of the most important ambassadors of Contemporary Australian art, with subsequent sales of his collection in the 1960s helping to establish significant artists of the 20th century on the Australian art market.

This Painting later became part of the collection of Rodney Davidson AO OBE LLB. Mr Davidson played a crucial part in building the National Trust movement in both Victoria and throughout Australia. Chair of the trust from 1965 to 1982, Davidson then became President of the trust in Victoria.

Rodney Davidson was known for being a significant collector of fine European works of art, furniture and books, with the latter being one of the most culturally valuable collections of Australian literature amassed. Rodney Davidson passed away in 2016, this painting was then acquired by a private collector from Sydney Australia.

About: A work by an artist of the late Venetian School, expressing accomplished technique and compositional cognisance. Drawing parallels of style, technique and subject from the works of Marco Ricci, Canaletto, Michele Giovanni Marieschi, Francesco Guardi, Giuseppe Zaïs and Francesco Zuccarelli.

A "Capriccio" refers to an imaginary view or an architectural fantasy, this was a subject that gained widespread popularity in the 18th century. Although this work does pay homage to artists that preceded it, namely Canaletto, the small scale and the painterly manner in which the piece is constructed, as well as the imaginative arrangements of the architecture and figures firmly place the work as being of a later period, more so in harmony with work of Francesco Guardi. The work appears unsigned and undated (some illegible script is evident on the stretcher bar). It is documented that Mr Cooper was known to write verso to paintings, the artist, as well as any other information of significance including as to where he acquired the piece.