An Imaginary View with a Triumphal Arch

ca. 1755

Canaletto Italian, 1697-1768

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

The subject of industrial architecture inspired the work of husband and wife artists Bernd and Hilla Becher. Their goal was to document structures that were disappearing in the West due to the slowdown of the manufacturing sector. The Becher’s photographed the same types of structures at different sites and established categories such as water towers, blast furnaces, and gas tanks, among others. They adhered to a strict formal aesthetic in each photograph; the subject is viewed from the front, photographed against a neutral gray sky with a consistent horizon line and similar vantage point. Multiple images were then presented in a serial format or grid. Together, the photographs reveal the distinct character of each architectural form. Although the artists reused images, each grid or typology was made unique through their combination and sequence of the photographs. Hilla Becher assembled this typology from their archive and especially for the DIA’s collection.

Title An Imaginary View with a Triumphal Arch

Artwork Date ca. 1755

Artist Canaletto

Life Dates 1697-1768

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Pen and brown ink, gray wash, heightened in white over graphite on cream laid paper

Dimensions Sheet: 10 × 15 1/16 inches (25.4 × 38.3 cm) Framed: 19 1/4 × 24 1/4 × 1 1/2 inches (48.9 × 61.6 × 3.8 cm)

Classification Drawings

Department Prints, Drawings & Photographs

Credit Bequest of John S. Newberry

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 65.177

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, on printed labels, on mount, lower right corner and lower center edge: Philip Hofer [in decorative frame] Inscribed, in pencil, on mount, verso, lower right corner: Antonio Canal, called | Canaletto | Venetian Landscape with | antique arch on the right | [indecipherable] Inscribed, in pencil, on mount, verso, lower right edge: CANALETTO | LANDSCAPE w/ ANTIQUE ARCH Inscribed, on printed label, lower left center: Fogg Museum of Art | Loan | 1944

Provenance

1920, Marquis of Lansdowne sale (England) no. 13

(P & D Colnaghi, London, England)

Thos. Agnew and Sons (London, England)

Philip Hofer (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)

1951, Durlacher Brothers (New York, New York, USA)

John S. Newberry (New York, New York, USA)

1965-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Barcham, William L. The Imaginary View Scenes of Antonio Canaletto. PhD diss. New York University, 1974. Published in Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts. New York,

1977 (pl. 182).

Constable, William George. Canaletto. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 1964, no. 124.

Constable, William George. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768. Oxford, 1962, no. 790.

Corboz, André. Canaletto: Una Venezia Imaginaria. Milan, 1985, vol. 2: p. 736, D126.

Feinblatt, Ebria. Old Master Drawings from American Collections. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1976, no. 65.

Fifty-one Watercolors and Drawings: The John S. Newberry Collection. Exh. cat., Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, 1962, no. 69.

Italian, French, English, and Spanish Drawings and Watercolors: Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. New York, 1992, pp. 94-95, no. 41, p. 144 (pl. xvi).

Pignatti, Terisio. Venetian Drawings from American Collectors. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art and Kimbell Art Museum. Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, 1990, no. 101.

Rearick, Janet Cox. Canaletto. Exh. cat., Jewett Arts Center and Charles E. Slatkin Gallery. Wellesley and New York, 1960, no. 13.

Richardson, E.P. Venice 1700-1800: An Exhibition of Venice and the Eighteenth Century. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts and John Heron Art Museum. Detroit and Indianapolis, 1952, no. 16.

Sojka, Nancy. "What is the Graphic Arts Collection at the DIA?" Bulletin of the DIA 80, 1/2 (2006): (fig. 6) p. 8 (ill.).

Venice 1700-1800. Exh. cat., Palace of Fine Arts. San Francisco, 1940, no. 12.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Canaletto, An Imaginary View with a Triumphal Arch, ca. 1755, pen and brown ink, gray wash, heightened in white over graphite on cream laid paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of John S. Newberry, 65.177.