beside the easel

Ruin of a Roman Room, 1700's I first discovered Charles-Louis Clérisseau in Rome two years ago at the Galleria Corsini , and I remember being stunned. It was a painting of the Pantheon. The cool shadows, confident lines, deep textures and thick bright highlights created an impression that was life-like yet those juicy brushstrokes were hypnotic. I had never heard of him before. And it seemed criminal that a great draftsman and artist would remain in obscurity, high on corner wall of a Roman museum that even the taxi driver couldn't remember. At any rate, he's definitely worth studying. Charles-Louis Clérisseau was born on August 28, 1721. He studied under Pannini and was also a friend of another great architectural draftsman and architect from Scotland, Robert Adam . This style of architectural renderings and paintings formed the basis of Neoclassicism and inspired many Brits to travel across Europe on the "Grand Tour" to experience the wonders of the past. ...

Portrait of Giovanni Paolo Pannini by Louis Gabriel Blanchet One of my favourite vedutisti , Pannini was born on this day in 1691. During the Rococo of the late 1600's two major ideas evolved in landscape painting: the capriccio and the veduta , which eventually sort of merged into a kind of scenic cappriccio. The Capriccio, meaning caprice or fancy, evolved from the idea of imagination triumphing on the base of Classical architecture, often depicting it with deep shadows and bold colours, whereas the veduta. or view, arose from the British who frequently visited Spain, France and Italy (the Grand Tour) where they became so inspired by the glorious vistas they wanted to take a souvenir back home with them, a veduta. This of course launched the careers of some artists, especially Canaletto. Pannini, although he didn't invent the style, was the one who inspired all of them and as we can see by his portrait above by Blanchet, Pannini was held in high regard in his lifetime. ...