Filippo De Pisis - painter and poet

Artist known for extravagant lifestyle

A 1923 painting by Filippo De Pisis
entitled Still Life with a Bottle

The painter and poet Filippo De Pisis, whose works grace the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome among other galleries, was born Luigi Filippo Tibertelli De Pisis in Ferrara on this day in 1896.

A close associate for a while of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà, De Pisis is best known for his cityscapes, metaphysically-inspired maritime scenes, and still life pictures, especially depicting flowers.  De Pisis, who was homosexual, also made many homoerotic sketches of the male nude. Later in life, he lived in Venice and became somewhat eccentric, travelling everywhere in his personal gondola.

Born into a noble family, as a boy he was known as Gigi. He was educated at home and was strongly influenced by his sister, Ernesta Tibertelli, who was a distinguished illustrator with libertarian views, and who probably introduced De Pisis to mystical writings.

De Pisis spent his childhood reading, drawing, collecting butterflies and wildflowers and writing poetry. He studied literature and philosophy at the University of Bologna, and published a volume of poems, Canti della Croara, in 1916. That same year, he met Carrà, De Chirico and his brother Alberto Savinio and and was attracted to metaphysical painting.

De Pisis spent 14 of his most productive years as
a painter living in Paris

In 1919, he moved to Rome, living in Via di Monserrato, near the Palazzo Farnese. He met more artists, including Armando Spadini, and began to paint in earnest. He still wrote, publishing a collection of essays, La città dalle 100 meraviglie - The City of 100 Wonders - in 1920.

He had been criticised for the overly-sentimentality of some of his poetry, yet his emotional nature worked in his favour in his painting, which received early acclaim.

Seeking new adventures and subjects, in 1925 he moved to Paris, which would be his base for the next 14 years, with only brief interruptions. He met and became friends with Édouard Manet, Camille Corot, Henri Matisse and members of the avant-garde fauve movement.

After holding a personal exhibition, presented by Carrà, in the Lidel room in Milan, he returned to Paris and began an intense relationship with the painter Onofrio Martinelli, who he had met in Rome. They shared a house-studio in the Rue Bonaparte in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter.

He became part of a group of artists known as the Italians in Paris, which included De Chirico, Savinio, Massimo Campigli, Mario Tozzi, Renato Paresce and Severo Pozzati.  During his Parisian period he also visited London several times, forming friendships with the British painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

De Pisis was probably best known for his cityscapes. This
one, painted in Venice in 1942, is Rio della Torricella 

De Pisis returned to Italy in 1939, anticipating the outbreak of the Second World War.  He settled in Vicenza for a few weeks before moving to Milan, taking up residence at the Hotel Vittoria in Via Durini.  He might have remained in Milan, but in 1943 his studio in Via Rugabella was destroyed in a bombing raid.

He moved again to Venice, where he was inspired by the paintings of Francesco Guardi and other Venetian masters of the 18th century, and began to live a rather extravagant lifestyle, travelling to and from his house on the Rio de San Sebastian canal in the Dorsoduro district by gondola. He maintained two gondoliers on 24-hour duty, who wore black-and-gold livery.

His health began to decline after the war and in 1948 he was treated in a clinic for neurological disorders in Bologna. From 1949 until his death in 1956 he lived mainly in a nursing home for sufferers from nervous diseases in Brugherio, a town north of Milan.  As well as the collections in New York, Venice and Rome, there are a large number of his paintings at the Museo Filippo De Pisis in his home city of Ferrara.

After moving to Venice permanently in 1943, De Pisis lived
in a house on Rio de San Sebastian in Dorsoduro

Travel tip:

Dorsoduro, where De Pisis lived after leaving Milan in 1943, is one of the six sestieri - municipal areas - of Venice, and sits between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal.  It is regarded as a good place to get a feel for the more traditional Venice, without the huge crowds and tourist trappings associated with the areas around St Mark's and the Rialto.  There are many traditional bacari, the small bars that sell inexpensive small snacks - cicchetti - along with glasses of wine - known locally as ombre, as well as squares where local people meet during the day and students gather at night.  It is also home to some fine churches, such as San Sebastiano, close to Casa De Pisis, which is full of works by Veronese. Nearby are two of the city's most prestigious galleries, the Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim.

The Villa Fiorita in Brugherio used to house the nursing
home where De Pisis was cared for in his later years

Travel tip:

The nursing home in which De Pisis spent the last few years of his life was housed in the Villa Fiorita, an historic aristocratic urban mansion in Brugherio that was built in 1721 for the Scotti family. After being bought and sold a number of times, it was given over for use as a nursing home in 1938. De Pisis spent much of his time in the mansion’s vast greenhouse, which is situated in its large landscape gardens, which he chose because of its optimal exposure to sunlight and relaxing parkland setting. The mansion now houses Brugherio’s municipal offices. The greenhouse has been renamed Serra De Pisis.



More reading:

Giorgio de Chirico, founder of the scuola metafisica movement

How Carlo Carrà captured violence and speed on canvas

Vittorio Miele, the artist of the metaphysical school who lost his family in World War II battle

Also on this day:

1715: The birth of opera composer Ignazio Fiorillo

1817: The birth of ballet star Fanny Cerrito

1932: The birth of fashion icon Valentino





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Canaletto - Venetian painter

Brilliant artist known for beautiful views of Venice

Giovanni Antonio Canal - Canaletto

The Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal – better known as Canaletto – died on this day in 1768 in the apartment in Venice in which he had lived for most of his life.

He was 70 years old and according to art historian William George Constable he had been suffering from a fever caused by a bladder infection.

His death certificate dated April 20 indicated that he died la notte scorsa all’ore 7 circa – ‘last night at about seven o'clock’. He was buried in the nearby church of San Lio in the Castello district, not far from the Rialto bridge.

Canaletto was famous largely for the views he painted of his native city, although he also spent time in Rome and the best part of 10 years working in London.

His work was popular with English visitors to Venice, in particular. In the days before photographs, paintings were the only souvenirs that tourists could take home to remind them of the city’s beauty.

Unlike his contemporary, and sometime pupil, Francesco Guardi, whose paintings were a romanticised vision of the city, Canaletto did not feel the need to embellish what he saw.  His works, therefore, were notable for their accuracy.

A Canaletto painting of St Mark's Square looking towards
the clock tower on the northern side

His paintings would begin with a drawing made on the spot, which he would reproduce on canvas in his studio. Canaletto was known to use the camera obscura – a darkened box with a pinhole in which the view is caught and reflected by lenses and mirrors onto a sheet of drawing paper, enabling the artist to trace the outlines of the reflected image as an aid to perspective.

In the studio, he would cut lines into the canvas so that he could accurately reproduce the shape and size of the buildings he had sketched, returning to the scene to add detail and colour by painting ‘from nature’ – in the open air.

Famous for his sweeping scenes of wide canals and water pageants, and for capturing the grandeur of the Doge's Palace and St Mark’s, Canaletto did not confine himself only to the most popular views. He appreciated the beauty created by sunlight illuminating the stone of the buildings and the terracotta roofs, creating different shades of colour depending on the time of day.

Yet he also recognised a different side to his city, as depicted in one of his early paintings, The Stonemasons’ Yard, in which the figures are peasant workers engaged in hard physical work, the buildings scruffy and dilapidated, the sky grey and overcast.

Canaletto's early work The Stonemasons' Yard contrasted
with the 'picture postcard' views for which he became famous

Born in 1697, Giovanni was the son of a painter, Bernard Canal, who made a living making scenery for the theatre. He began as an apprentice in his father’s workshop and became known as Canaletto – literally ‘little Canal’.

He went to Rome to study and was very impressed with the work of Giovanni Paolo Pannini, who painted the daily life of people in his own city, and returned in 1719 eager to become of the Pannini of his own city.  The first painting known to have been signed by Canaletto was dated 1723.

He owed much of his commercial success to the wealthy English merchant, Joseph Smith, later to be the British Consul in Venice, who bought many of Canaletto’s paintings to hang in his own houses, or to sell on to other wealthy Englishmen. He effectively became Canaletto’s agent, often arriving with commissions to paint particular views.

In 1746 Canaletto moved to London, partly to be nearer to his most profitable market, but also because the Austrian War of Succession led to a fall in the number of English visitors to Venice.  For the next 10 years, he produced views of London, including Westminster Abbey, Northumberland House and the new Westminster Bridge, although his clients were less excited with pictures of scenes with which they were familiar than the ones that brought back memories of their travels.

Joseph Smith eventually sold much of his personal collection to George III, which is why the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle contains a substantial number of Canaletto originals. George III paid £20,000 for the lot, which seems very little given the amounts that have changed hands for Canaletto paintings in more recent years.

The record price paid at auction for a Canaletto – indeed the record paid for any work by one of the so-called Old Masters – is £18.6 million, which an anonymous bidder paid for View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto at Sotheby's in London in July 2005, eclipsing the record set the previous day when The Bucintoro at the Molo, Venice, on Ascension Day was sold by the same auction house for £11.4 million.

Canaletto's house, marked with the plaque above the brown
doors, was in an obscure backstreet near the Rialto

Travel tip:

For much of his life, Canaletto lived in a modest apartment at the end of Calle de la Malvasia, close to a small courtyard-square called Corte Perini in Castello. The building is marked with a plaque. It is easy enough to find – simply leave St Mark’s Square via Marzaria dell’Orologio, passing under the famous clock on the north side of the square, proceed to the church of San Zulian and look for a small alleyway off to the right called Piscina San Zulian, leading to a bridge, Ponte de la Malvasia, which crosses into Calle de la Malvasia. The church of San Lio is in Salizada San Lio, accessible from Corte Perini via a covered walkway.

The Ca' Rezzonico museum holds a number of Canalettos

Travel tip:

Although many Canaletto paintings are in museums and private collections around the world, particularly in England and the United States, a small number are on display in Venice at Ca’ Rezzonico, a palace on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere, which is now a museum dedicated to 18th century Venice.

Check out Venice hotels on TripAdvisor

More reading:

How Venetian old master Titian set new standards

Where the work of Tintoretto remains on show in Venice

How Guardi evoked the last days of the Venetian Republic

Also on this day:

1937: The birth of TV chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio



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Francesco Guardi - painter

Artist evoked image of republic’s final years

A portrait of Guardi by his
contemporary, Pietro Longhi

One of the last great artists of the Venetian school, Francesco Lazzaro Guardi, was born on this day in 1712 in Venice.

Guardi’s wonderful scenes of crowds, festivals, regattas and concerts in Venice have kept the heyday of the republic alive for future generations to enjoy in art galleries all over the world.

The artist was born into a family of nobility from Trentino, who lived in a house in the Cannaregio district of Venice.

Guardi’s father and brothers were also painters and his sister, Maria Cecilia, married the great Venetian artist, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Guardi’s first known works were painted in the 1730s in Vigo Anuania in Trentino, where he was working alongside his older brother, Gian Antonio.

Guardi's painting of the Doge's state barge, the Bucintoro, near
 the Riva di Sant'Elena, which is housed at the Louvre in Paris

The first work to be signed by Guardi is the picture Saint Adoring the Eucharist, which was painted in about 1739.

Guardi seemed equally comfortable painting landscapes or figures, but his early views of Venice show the influence of Canaletto on his style.

In 1757 Guardi married Maria Mattea Pagani, the daughter of another painter, Matteo Pagani.

One of his most important works was The Doge’s Feasts, a series of 12 canvases commissioned to celebrate the ceremonies held in 1763 for the election of Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo.

Guardi was also commissioned by the Venetian authorities to paint six canvases to celebrate the visit of Russian Archdukes to the city, of which only two remain.

This view of St Mark's Square is among the Guardi works
that can be seen at Accademia Carrara in Bergamo

The Academia Carrara in Bergamo has some fine examples of Guardi’s paintings in its collection, such as the Friars’ Cloister, the  Façade of Palace with Staircase and some wonderful views of Venice.

As Guardi grew older his style became noticeably different from that of Canaletto, who focused on the glamour of Venice, often showing it in bright sunshine.

Guardi often painted cloudy skies above the city at dusk, accurately conveying the mood and atmosphere of each scene. Some of his paintings evoke the onset of the decline of Venice’s empire, such as his landscape, Fire in the Oil Depot in San Marcuola, which was painted in 1789.

Guardi died in Cannaregio in 1793 at the age of 80, four years before the end of the Republic of Venice.

The house in Campiello della Madonna, a small square in
Cannaregio, where Guardi lived for much of his life

Travel tip:

Cannaregio, where Guardi was born and died, is a peaceful quarter of Venice, with crumbling, shuttered houses and little shops and bars that are still patronised by Venetians. Among the architectural masterpieces of the area are the Gothic church of Madonna dell’Orto and the early Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.

Travel tip:

Bergamo’s Accademia Carrara has a fine collection of paintings by Guardi including views of L’Isola di San Giorgio, Il Rio dei Mendicanti, Il Ponte di Rialto and Piazza San Marco. The Accademia Carrara is housed in a magnificent palace just outside Bergamo’s Città Alta, built in the 18th century to house one of the richest private collections in Italy. It is the only Italian museum to be entirely stocked with donations and bequests from private collectors. Visitors can view works by the masters of the Venetian, Lombard and Tuscan Renaissances as well as the great artists who came later, such as Guardi, Lotto, Titian, Moroni, Rubens, Tiepolo and Canaletto. For more details visit www.lacarrara.it.

(Photo of Guardi's house by Didier Descouens CC BY-SA 4.0)

More reading:

Tiepolo: 'greatest decorative artist of 18th century Europe'

Titian - giant of Renaissance art

How Pietro Longhi captured everyday life in 18th century Venice

Tintoretto - the dyer's son whose work still adorns Venice


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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo – artist

 Painter’s decorative work can be seen all over Venice

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo: self-portrait

Painter and print maker Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was born on this day in 1696 in Venice.

Also sometimes known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, his output was prolific and he enjoyed success not only in Italy, but in Germany and Spain as well.

Highly regarded right from the beginning of his career, he has been described by experts as the greatest decorative artist of 18th century Europe. Although much of his work was painted directly on to the walls and ceilings of churches and palaces in his native Venice, many of Tiepolo’s paintings on canvas are now in art galleries all over the world.

Tiepolo was the youngest child of a Venetian shipping merchant who died a year after his birth leaving his mother to struggle to bring up her six children alone.

In 1710 he became a pupil of Gregorio Lazzarini, a successful established painter, but Tiepolo quickly developed a style of his own.

His earliest known works are depictions of the apostles, which form part of the decoration of the interior of the Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti at Ospedaletto in Venice , painted in 1717.

The Church of Santa Maria dei
Derelitti in Venice, where can be
found Tiepolo's earliest work

Tiepolo was commissioned to produce portraits for the Doge and he started painting frescoes directly on to the walls of churches in 1717.

In 1719 Tiepolo married Maria Cecilia Guardi, the sister of painters Francesco Guardi and Giovanni Antonio Guardi and they had nine children. Two of his sons, Domenico and Lorenzo, eventually painted with him as assistants.

Tiepolo was commissioned to produce paintings for many churches in Venice but also for the interiors of palaces in Milan and for the Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo.

At the request of a German prince, Tiepolo travelled to Wurzburg in 1750 to produce ceiling paintings for his palace.

He returned to Venice where he continued to produce paintings for churches and palaces until in 1761 he was invited to Madrid by King Charles III to create a ceiling fresco for the throne room of the Royal Palace. He fulfilled other commissions in Madrid, although he had to put up with jealousy from the other artists working for the king at the time. Tiepolo died in Madrid in 1770.

The meeting of Anthony and
Cleopatra, depicted by Tiepolo,
can be found in Palazzo Labia

Travel tip:

Palazzo Labia in Fondamenta Labia in Venice has frescoes in the ballroom depicting the life of Cleopatra, painted by Tiepolo between 1745 and 1750. The prestigious palace is on the wide Cannaregio Canal , close to its junction with the Grand Canal , but the entrance to it is off Campo San Geremia. The palace sometimes holds free classical concerts in the magnificently decorated ballroom, or visitors can arrange to see the frescoes by appointment.

Venice hotels from Booking.com

Travel tip:

The Church of the Gesuati in Fondamenta delle Zattere in Venice has a ceiling frescoed by Tiepolo with scenes from The Life of St Dominic. The impressive work of art, painted between 1737 and 1739, demonstrates the artist’s amazing mastery of light and colour.

More reading:

Francesco Guardi, one of the last great artists of the Venetian school

Titian, the old master of Venice who set new standards

The boundless energy of Tintoretto

Also on this day:

1827: The death of scientist Alessandro Volta

1834: The birth of 19th century opera star Marietta Piccolomini

1922: The birth of writer and film director Pier Paolo Pasolini

Selected books:

Tiepolo, by Renzo Villa Giovanni

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