Apollonio Domenichini, Ex-master Of Views Of The Langmatt Foundation, Architectural Caprice

APOLLONIO DOMENICHINI, EX-MASTER OF VIEWS FROM THE LANGMATT FOUNDATION (ACTIVE IN VENICE CIRCA 1740-1770) Architectural whim animated with characters Oil on canvas Canvas size: 52 x 73 cm Size with period gilt wood frame: 62 x 83 cm This superb painting is typical of the architectural whims made by the artist, we can recognize his hand easily. As usual he starts with a dark foreground which he will contrast with a lighter area and return to a darker color. He uses a lateral light which supports the contrasts between the different parts of the painting, letting reveal a subtle light which leaves the architecture on the left. The brushstroke is quite energetic, the pictorial matter, the serifs of paint is found in the architecture and the ground, which is not common for the time. As for the perspective, it opens onto a sea that varies from a dark blue to a very light blue ending in a magnificent cloud. The texture of the cloud is very successful, he manages to give a real life and consistency to this sky, a characteristic of his most successful works. We can find some characters who come to animate this whim, we find in these the colors and the dynamic characteristic of the Venetian Vedutists of the 18th century. For comparison you can watch the Sotheby's sale of May 20, 2008 where three architectural Caprices of the artist went on sale (Lot 187, 188 and 189). The dimensions correspond to the work that is offered for sale, but also all the compositions which suggests a certain complementarity between the works. Lot 189 is the most interesting example by comparison using the same principle of construction of the painting: architecture on the left, alternating dark / light plan, the characters, on the right the sea which begins with a dark area and many other common points that I will be happy to share with you. As far as the artist is concerned, he has long been known as the Master of Views of the Langmatt Foundation, a foundation which is located in Baden, Switzerland. It took its name from a set of vedute preserved in the collections of this foundation formed between 1895 and 1950 By Sidney and Jenny Brown. It was not until 1994 that he was identified as Apollonio Domenichini (1715-1770) by Dario Succi. Previously nicknamed Il Menichino, this pupil of Luca Carlevarijs and Giovanni Richter was often cited by his contemporaries, as were Canaletto and Guardi. He worked in Venice at the same time as the latter and Michele Marieschi and thus established his reputation thanks to his views of Venice. His name appears in the registers of Fraglia, the corporation of Venetian painters in 1757.