Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (c.1687-c.1753), View of the Doge's Palace with Gondolas on the Lagoon and View of the Customs House with Numerous Figures in the Foreground, c.1745-1750, pair of oil on canvas, 81.9x112.4 cm We would like to thank Dr Federica Spadatto for her confirmation of authenticity on the basis of photographs and her help in drafting this note. Certificate of authenticity by Dario Succi dated 7 April 1999 Provenance: Knoedler Collection, Paris, H.K.S. Williams Collection, Paris, Loan to Filoli Gardens, Woodside, California, Mildred Anna Williams Collection, San Francisco, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1940, (donation), California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, (inv. no. 1940.53-54), Butterfield &, Butterfield Sale, San Francisco, Collection of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 9 June 1999, 7028F, no. 8003 &, 8004, Jean-Max Tassel, Paris, (acquired from previous provenance), Swiss Private Collection (acquired from previous provenance) Bibliography: Federica Spadotto, Un artista dimenticato: Giovan Battista Cimaroli , in: Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, vol. 23, 1999, pp. 167, 172 (no. 33, ill.), 178 (no. 39, ill.), Filippo Pedrocco, Vues de Venise : de Carpaccio à Canaletto, Citadelles &, Mazenod, Paris, 2002, pp. 182-183, ill., Federica Spadotto, Giovan Battista Cimaroli, Editrice Minelliana, Rovigo, 2011, pp. 250-251, no. 86 and no. 86a, ill. Verso: Etiquette California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Artist Canale, Antonio... [...] Gift of Mildred Anna williams Collection / Property of California Palace of The Legion of Honor San Francisco Good condition. The works have been lined, however this operation does not seem to be linked to a major tear as none could be detected under UV or natural light. Minor scattered retouching of the sky can be seen under UV light. The figures are virtually unaffected by these small retouches. There is a network of craquelure on the whole, visible mainly in the blues. The paint layer adheres well, the lining adheres well and the work is flat. The original varnishes have been lightened. There are a few traces of an old varnish in the form of a slight yellow haze. The paint layer, where the network of cracks is densest, is very slightly depigmented. It is, however, in a good state of conservation. The restoration varnish is transparent and even throughout. Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (c.1687-c.1753), View of the Doge's Palace with Gondolas on the Lagoon and View of the Customs House with Numerous Figures in the Foreground This remarkable pair of paintings, catalogued by Federica Spadotto (Spadotto, 1999, nos. 59-60, Spadotto, 2008, nos. 86-86a), expresses the quintessential art of Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (Salo, 1687-Venice, 1771) at the height of his career, when the Lombard master settled in Venice and assimilated the lessons of Canaletto (Antonio Canal, Venice, 1697-1768), transforming them into a personal stylistic repertoire. These views of Venice can be dated to between the fifth and sixth decades of the eighteenth century - for in Il molo verso la piazzetta the side elevations of the Clock Tower, painted after 1755, are absent. With their finely drawn silhouettes and inimitably plastic shapes and gestures, these two works capture a slice of life transposed onto canvas with the spirit of a skilful craftsman, intent on capturing every detail of the urban chronicle. In La punta della Dogana vista dal molo, where the artist reinterprets the plot of Canaletto's painting through the filter of a peaceful narrative, the viewer is invited to slip in among the gentlemen and commoners near the piazzetta, and the counterpart is equally effective. In both paintings, the meridian luminosity of a spring day pulsates, caressing the architectures delicately defined with the tip of the brush, and bringing out the scenery and the 'accidents', essential extras in the comedy of life masterfully staged on the pictorial surface. Giovanni Battista punctuates the composition with the excellence of the great Master, remarkable in the art of casting the roles in the comedy, and highlights each character with alternating bright colours and touches of ceruse (a white lead-based pigment) on shirts and coats. Nobles and humble commoners share the same physiognomy, made up of round faces, full bodies and measured gestures, in which Cimaroli's brush indulges in a softer, more vibrant line than in his treatment of the urban environment. The result is an image of the city that is very different from the celebration of Canaletto or the agitation of Francesco Guardi (Venice, 1712-1793). The Venice conveyed by Cimaroli resembles an innovative snapshot offered to the public with the freshness and authenticity of a narrator endowed with extraordinary empathy. It is precisely in this empathy, over and above the technical excellence that for almost two centuries confused the hand of this artist with that of Canaletto (cf. Spadotto, 2018), that lies the essence of an aesthetic capable of surviving the centuries while preserving intact the magic of the atmosphere of eighteenth-century Venice. (For bibliography, see catalogue information sheet 86-86a in Spadotto, 2008). We would like to thank Dr Federica Spadatto for writing this information sheet. A Swiss Private Collection Lots 26 to 30, 2697 to 2701, 2703 and 2705 to 2707 marked in green in the printed catalogue come from a private Swiss collection. The collection is made up of high quality old paintings and drawings painstakingly assembled over a period of almost 40 years (see page 33 of the printed catalogue). We would like to thank Benjamin Peronnet for writing the notes on the drawings in this collection.