Giacomo Guardi (Venice 1764 – 1835), The Molo from the Bacino di San Marco with Palazzo Ducale. Photo Sotheby's

Giacomo Guardi (Venice 1764 – 1835), The Grand Canal with the Rialto bridge from the south. Photo Sotheby's

Quantité: 2. Both gouache; both signed in pen and brown ink on the verso: Giacomo de Guardi, and inscribed: Veduta della Riva e Canal grande, cioè ponte de Giardini Reali, / Zecca, Libraria Orologio, chiesa di S. Marco, Pallazzo Ducale, Prigion Pubbliche e / casa Bernardi ed altre Fabbriche / A Reccapito all'Ospedaletto in calle del Perucchier al N.o5845 / dimandar; Veduta del ponte di Rialto / All'Ospedaletto in SS. Giou e Paolo N.o 5845 dimandar. Each circa 225 by 332 mm; 8 7/8 by 13 in. Estimation 10,000 — 15,000 USD

Provenance: Sale, New York, Sotheby's, 13 January 1988, lots 135 and 136;
New York, Private Collection,
by descent to the present owner

Exposition: Canterbury, Royal Museum, Guardi, Tiepolo and Canaletto, 1985, p. 18, no. 15, both reproduced p. 70, figs. 15 a, 15 b

As noted in the Canterbury catalogue (see Exhibited) these two gouaches are larger than the usual size. Giacomo produced in some numbers these delightful colored views, invariably signed and inscribed with locations and his address on the verso, which must have been the perfect memento for English travellers and other cultivated tourists to bring home as souvenirs of their Grand Tour. See also lots 33 and 81.

Sotheby's. Old Master Drawings. New York | 29 janv. 2014 - www.sothebys.com