Venice, Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge.
Giovanni Grubas (Venice 1830 – Pula 1919)
Oil on canvas
Canvas 100 x 75 frame 113 x 88
Signed lower left
Excellent condition with old re-lining and late 19th-century frame.
Splendid painting on canvas depicting a magnificent view of Venice with one of the iconic monuments of the City.
The protagonist of the painting is in fact the Rialto Bridge which crosses the waters of the Grand Canal flanked by the elegant silhouette of the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi.
The Rialto Bridge, celebrated for its extraordinary beauty, is one of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal and the first to be built at the end of the 16th century.
The large canvas, and for this reason very rare, is a signed work by the famous 19th-century Venetian landscape painter Giovanni Grubas. He, along with his father Carlo, distinguished himself for his depictions of Venice, always of excellent quality, highly sought after by the Italian and especially foreign market.
His "Postcards," almost always of very small size and therefore easy to market, were aimed with great success at wealthy foreign tourists who wanted a souvenir of their holiday in Venice.
It is no coincidence that the small Venetian views of the Grubas, father and son, appear more frequently in the catalogs of English and American auctions even more than the Italian ones.
Giovanni Grubas (Venice, 1830 – Pula, 1919), son of Carlo Grubas (1801-1870), was introduced to painting by his father. He immediately specialized, just like his father, in the 18th-century style Venetian perspective views.
In the first part of his career, Giovanni Grubas can certainly be assimilated to his father's pictorial style, but around 1860, influenced by the realist demands of Italian painting, he ventured into a freer style and more up-to-date with contemporary trends.
Giovanni's works are sometimes confused with those of his father, although they are often permeated by a decidedly superior atmospheric sensibility.
We know very little about his life, even less than about his father's. What is certain is that during his career he achieved great success in the Venetian and European market. At the beginning of the 20th century, having become blind, he found himself facing artistic isolation and difficult economic conditions.
It is said that, bordering on poverty, Giovanni Grubacs managed to live decently in the last years of his life, selling a box full of paintings that had remained in his Venetian studio during the years of success. Now almost ninety years old and out of all artistic activity, he died in Venice in 1919
Giovanni Grubacs' Venetian views differ from those of his father for a greater sensitivity in the luministic and atmospheric rendering. Although the first views are very similar to those of Carlo, over the years his painting takes on a personal connotation and is totally distinguished from that of his father.
Through a quick and full brushstroke, Grubacs creates views of an atypical Venice, involved in the great artistic evolutions of the time and the need to give a personal imprint to his long career.
This extraordinary large work on canvas datable between 1850 and '60, is part of the master's youthful works, considered the most valid and stylistically the most convincing of his production.
The considerable dimensions of the painting make it particularly rare and sought after, as well as of great effect on the wall.
The difficulty in finding important works by the Grubas, father and son, should in fact be emphasized, compared to the more common small-sized, purely commercial productions.
The Young Grubas, still far from the vortex of business, can freely express his artistic gifts in this fantastic composition that stands out for an intense clarity and for an engaging play of light and shadows of extraordinary effectiveness in rendering the volumes.
Certificate of authenticity and descriptive sheet. (FIMA)
Tracked shipping (DHL TRACKING) and fully insured with anti-shock packaging in custom-made wooden crate.
Delivery within 3 working days of receipt of payment
Negotiable price and personalized payment
All the details of the painting are published on the private site
click on: https://www.antichitaischia.it/it/prodotto/venezia--canal-grande-e-ponte-di-rialto-
