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116 - GIACOMO GUARDI (ITALIAN 1764-1835)THE ASCENT OF A BALLOON FROM THE GIUDECCA CANALPen and ink with grey wash, over traces of pencil, on laid paper17 x 24cm (6½ x 9¼in.)Provenance:The collection of Giancarlo BaroniHis estate sale, Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Estate of Giancarlo Baroni, 30 January 2013, lot 120The collection of The Honorable C. Boyden GrayThis drawing by Giacomo Guardi depicts thefirst ascent of a hot air balloon in Venice. The balloon was commissionedby Francesco Pesaro (1740-1799), the Procurator of San Marco, and launched bythe Bolognese aviation pioneer Count Giovanni Zambeccari (1752-1812) on 15April 1784. In June of the previous year, the Montgolfier brothers hadlaunched their first unmanned balloon at Annonay, France, an extraordinaryspectacle and engineering feat that likely inspired Pesaro tocommission his own.Taken from the Punta della Dogana, Giacomo’sdrawing shows the balloon in flight, framed between the columns of a porticowith spectators gathered to watch the historic event unfold.Below the balloon, gondolas line the Giudecca Canal, on the far side of whichcan be seen the facade and dome of Andrea Palladio’s church of Le Zitelle.To the east, on the far left of the composition, stands Palladio’s church ofSan Giorgio Maggiore. This event was captured by Giacomo’s father, FrancescoGuardi, in the pen and wash drawing formerly in the collection of Dr. Altmann(see J. Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Francesco Guardi, London, 1951,p. 70, no. 46), a work that served as a preparatory sketch for his upright oilin the Gemaldegalerie, Berlin (1784).The numerous differences between Giacomo’sdrawing and that executed by his father suggest that the younger artist,who would have been twenty at the time of the ascent, may well have beenpresent and made his own independent sketch to commemorate the event.
Starting price
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Estimation
£7,000 - 10,000 (€8,300 - 12,000)Sale fees
GIACOMO GUARDI (ITALIAN 1764-1835)THE ASCENT OF A BALLOON FROM THE GIUDECCA CANALPen and ink with grey wash, over traces of pencil, on laid paper17 x 24cm (6½ x 9¼in.)Provenance:The collection of Giancarlo BaroniHis estate sale, Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Estate of Giancarlo Baroni, 30 January 2013, lot 120The collection of The Honorable C. Boyden GrayThis drawing by Giacomo Guardi depicts thefirst ascent of a hot air balloon in Venice. The balloon was commissionedby Francesco Pesaro (1740-1799), the Procurator of San Marco, and launched bythe Bolognese aviation pioneer Count Giovanni Zambeccari (1752-1812) on 15April 1784. In June of the previous year, the Montgolfier brothers hadlaunched their first unmanned balloon at Annonay, France, an extraordinaryspectacle and engineering feat that likely inspired Pesaro tocommission his own.Taken from the Punta della Dogana, Giacomo’sdrawing shows the balloon in flight, framed between the columns of a porticowith spectators gathered to watch the historic event unfold.Below the balloon, gondolas line the Giudecca Canal, on the far side of whichcan be seen the facade and dome of Andrea Palladio’s church of Le Zitelle.To the east, on the far left of the composition, stands Palladio’s church ofSan Giorgio Maggiore. This event was captured by Giacomo’s father, FrancescoGuardi, in the pen and wash drawing formerly in the collection of Dr. Altmann(see J. Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Francesco Guardi, London, 1951,p. 70, no. 46), a work that served as a preparatory sketch for his upright oilin the Gemaldegalerie, Berlin (1784).The numerous differences between Giacomo’sdrawing and that executed by his father suggest that the younger artist,who would have been twenty at the time of the ascent, may well have beenpresent and made his own independent sketch to commemorate the event.
Auction details
Old Master & British PicturesAuction house
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