Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto, Luca Caravarijs, Giovanni Paolo Panini, Francesco Guardi, Hubert Robert-these renowned view painters are perhaps best known for their expansive canvases depicting the ruins of Rome or the canals of Venice. Many of their most splendid paintings, however, feature important contemporary events. Little explored by scholars, they stand out by virtue of their extraordinary artistic quality, vibrant atmosphere, and historical interest. Imbued with a sense of occasion, even drama, and often commissioned by or for rulers, princes, and ambassadors as records of significant events in which they participated, these occasions motivated some of the greatest artists of the era to produce their most exceptional work. Lavishly illustrated and exhaustively researched, this volume provides the first-ever comprehensive study-in any language-of this type of view painting. In examining these paintings alongside the historical events depicted in them, Peter Bjorn Kerber carefully reconstructs the meaning and context these paintings possessed for the artists who produced them and the patrons who commissioned them, as well as for their contemporary viewers. This vital book represents a major contribution to the field of view painting studies and will be an essential resource to scholars and enthusiasts.

There has never been an exhibition catalogue on this subject, especially one that galvanizes the works of highly renowned artists and presents them in one lavishly designed volume. The art herein will resonate with anyone who has travelled Europe-- or in particular who has visited or lived in Rome or Venice-- and who wishes to bask again in its visual riches. The exhibition for which this work was created will garner major publicity to spark demand: the show not only runs at the Getty in LA but makes stops in Minneapolis and Cleveland as well.

About the Author
Peter Bjorn Kerber is assistant curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Reviews
"[The] scholarly catalog, by Getty curator Peter Bjorn Kerber, restores much of the meaning that was lost as these works passed from generation to generation. . . . While anyone can appreciate these paintings aesthetically, viewers . . . require the catalog to understand their layered meanings and slant." --Wall Street Journal



Book Information
ISBN 9781606065259
Author Peter Bjorn Kerber
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint J. Paul Getty Museum
Publisher Getty Trust Publications
Weight(grams) 1764g
Dimensions(mm) 283mm * 262mm * 26mm