William James, tätig 1730 – 1780 Veduta painter active in London in the second half of the 18th century. VEDUTE OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE Oil on canvas. 93 x 94 cm. Unframed. Accompanied by an expert opinion by Dario Succi. William James was active as a vedutist between 1746 and 1771; the only information about his artistic personality is found in Edward Edwards' Anecdotes of Painters of 1808, in which James is mentioned as a "pupil" or collaborator of Canaletto during the latter's stay in England between 1746 and 1755. His artistic career has been partially reconstructed through a series of London views held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Royal Collections. However, the text of the above-mentioned Edwards contains the only mention of his painting Venetian subjects, which the biographer himself considers to be strongly related to Canaletto. The attribution to William James of some views that reached the international market, and especially the presence of some canvases on which his name appears in full on a plaque attached to the original frames, suggest a rich production of city panoramas, generally taken from the painterly repertoire of Antonio Canal, works that allowed the English painter to be counted among the "vedutisti di Venezia" (Venetian veduta painters), although his biographical sequence gives no indication of a possible stay in the lagoon city. James was one of Canaletto's best-known pupils, picking up the flavour of Venetian sites indirectly by looking at the works the master had brought back to England with him, and by working alongside him as he satisfied his patrons' great demand for views of the lagoon city they so loved. The present masterly painting shows as the most significant architectural formation the well-known church of Santa Maria della Salute, in front of it gondolas and transport barges, the right quarter of the picture with the canal development spanned by compositionally balancing cloud formations. (1291401) (13) William James, active 1730 - 1780 Veduta painter active in London in the second half of the 18th century. VEDUTA OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTEOil on canvas. 93 x 94 cm. Unframed. Accompanied by an expert's report by Dario Succi. William James was active as a veduta painter between 1746 and 1771; the only information about his artistic career is found in Edward Edwards' Anecdotes of Painters of 1808, in which James is mentioned as a "student" or collaborator of Canaletto during his stay in England between 1746 and 1755. The present masterful painting shows one of the most important architectural structures of Venice, the well-known Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute with gondolas and barges in the front and buildings along the canal along the right quarter of the painting. Cloud formations stretching overhead across the painting add balance to the composition.