Not currently on display at the V&A

Study of a Fish

Oil Painting
ca. 1700-ca. 1710 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Carlevarijs, Luca (painter (artist))

This study of a fish is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes subjects he appears to have painted from life in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. This study may have been made for a market or port scene which feature among Carlevarijs' works.


Object details

Category
Paintings
Object type
Oil painting
TitleStudy of a Fish
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Oil Paint
Canvas
Oil Painting
Brief description
Oil sketch, 'Study of a Fish', Luca Carlevarijs, early 18th century
Physical description
A study of a fish. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures and objects he appears to have painted in preparation for insertion into formal compositions.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 15.5cm
  • Estimate width: 27cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1973
Style
Venetian School
Credit line
Purchased from the funds of Captain H. B. Murray's bequest.
Object history
Purchased, 1938

Historical significance: This study of a fish is one of Carlevarijs' studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour. Carlevarijs first drew these subjects on paper, copying them from life and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. This study may have been made for a market, fishing or port scene which feature among Carlevarijs' works. The artist's sketches also demonstrate his great influence on Canaletto, whose figures and arrangement often show a marked debt to the older Master.
Historical context
This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes subjects he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. These figures, animals and objects appear frequently and virtually without variations in his paintings between 1707 and 1726 and are closely related to his etchings of 1703 in Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia. Composed of 104 views of Venice, the etchings formed the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century.
Subject depicted
Fish
Summary
This study of a fish is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes subjects he appears to have painted from life in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. This study may have been made for a market or port scene which feature among Carlevarijs' works.
Bibliographic references
  • Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 56-63, cat. no. 60 (P.26-1938 – P.78-1938)
  • John Pope-Hennessy, 'A Group of Studies by Luca Carlevarijs', The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 73, No. 426 (Sep., 1938), pp. 126-131.
  • Anon., 'Early Venetian Costume Studies' in Listener,22 September 1938, p. 613.
  • F. Mauroner, Luca Carlevarijs,2nd ed., 1945, p. 24, figs. 32 (P.57), 33 (P.55), 34 (P.69)
  • M. Levey, Painting in XVIII century Venice, 1959, p. 79.
  • W. G. Constable, Canaletto,i, 1962, pp. 70, 73 f., pl. 9 a (P.69) and b (P.55)
  • A. Rizzi, Disegni, incisioni e bozzetti del Carlevarijs, Exh. Cat. Udine, 1964, pp. 53-7, figs. 113-20.
  • The Glory of Venice : art in the eighteenth century. Jane Martineau and Andrew Robison (eds.), Exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, September 15 - December 14, 1994 and at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29 - April 23, 1995.
  • Life in XVIII century Venice, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1966.
  • A. Rizzi, Luca Carlevarijs,1967, p. 97 f., figs. 1-53 (Bozzetti).
  • Isabella Reale and Dario Succi, Luca Carlevarijs e la veduta veneziana del Settecento Exh. Cat., Milano : Electa, c1994.
  • Venice, 1700-1800: an exhibition of Venice and the eighteenth century (The Detroit Institute of Arts [and] John Herron Art Museum), 1952, pp. 9-12, 23-26.
  • Luca Carlevarijs, Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia Exh. Cat., Venezia : Marsilio, 1995-1996.
  • Charles Beddington, Luca Carlevarijs : views of Venice Exh. Cat. (San Diego, Calif.: Timken Museum of Art, c. 2001).
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1938, London: Board of Education, 1939.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
P.30-1938

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Record createdFebruary 6, 2007
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O131367/study-of-a-fish-oil-painting-carlevarijs-luca/
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