Francesco Guardi

Past Exhibition: Venice/Paris

Painting of regatta on a Venetian canal
Venice/Paris (Guardi, Whistler, and Meryon)
March 23, 1989 to June 18, 1989

An exhibition focusing on the cities of Venice and Paris as depicted in paintings, drawings, and prints in The Frick Collection. The exhibition included two canvases depicting scenes of Venice by Francesco Guardi that are normally displayed in the main reading room of the Frick Art Reference Library; three pastels of Venetian subjects by J.A.M. Whistler; the twelve etchings that comprised Whistler’s First Venice Set; and thirteen etchings by Charles Meryon providing vivid images of Paris as it appeared in the mid-nineteenth century.

Cocktails with a Curator: Guardi's "Regatta in Venice" and "View of Cannaregio Canal in Venice"

video still of Xavier Salomon and painting of river scene

In this week’s episode of Cocktails with a Curator, set a course for 18th-century Venice as Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon discusses a pair of “vedute” (views) by Francesco Guardi. Displayed on the third floor of Frick Madison alongside works by Tiepolo and Rosalba Carriera, Guardi’s pictures present a lively city with color-coordinated boatmen, laundry hanging from balconies, and liveried attendants greeting dignitaries. This week’s complementarycocktail is the Sgroppino, a Venetian refreshment dating to the 16th century.