Tiepolo, Guardi, and Their World: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Drawings

September 27, 2013, through January 5, 2014
Image of Tiepolo drawing

The Morgan's collection of eighteenth-century Venetian drawings is among the world's finest, with more than 300 sheets by renowned masters Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770) and his son Domenico (1726–1804). Drawn entirely from the museum's holdings, Tiepolo, Guardi, and Their World features a selection of more than one hundred works on paper and chronicles the vitality and originality of drawing during Venice's second Golden Age.

The eighteenth century saw the resurgence of the legendary maritime city as a center for international arts patronage. Venice was home to several flourishing family workshops and commissions from the church, the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and foreign travelers ensured the fame of her artists. The exceptional creativity of Venetian masters is seen in Giambattista Tiepolo's luminous wash studies for frescoed ceilings and painted figures, views of Venice and architectural capricci by Francesco Guardi and Canaletto, early designs executed by Giovanni Piranesi during his formative years in the city, and Domenico Tiepolo's humorous Scenes from Contemporary Life and theatrical vignettes depicting the comic character Punchinello.

Tiepolo, Guardi, and Their World: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Drawings is generously supported by the Sherman Fairchild Fund for Exhibitions, and by Kasper and Mr. and Mrs. Clement C. Moore II.

Giambattista Tiepolo, (1696–1770)
Psyche Transported to Olympus
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, over black chalk, on paper.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; 1997.27
Gift of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann

Selected images

Francesco Guardi
(1712–1793)

Ascent of a Balloon in Venice

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Thaw Collection

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(1726–1804)

The Setting Off on the Flight into Egypt

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(1726–1804)

The Quack Dentist

Thaw Collection

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(1726–1804)

The Presentation of the Fiancé

Thaw Collection

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(1726–1804)

The Last Illness of Punchinello

Thaw Collection

Francesco Guardi
(1712–1793)

View of Levico in the Valsugana

Thaw Collection

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
(1726?–1804)

Punchinellos with an Elephant

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910

Sebastiano Ricci
(1659–1734)

Venus and Cupid with other Figures before an Altar

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
(1682–1754)

Young Woman with Tambourine

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Giambattista Tiepolo
(1696–1770)

Design for a Ceiling showing the Triumph of Hercules

Purchased on the Fellows Fund

Giambattista Tiepolo
(1696–1770)

Apollo, with Lyre and Quiver, His Arm Upraised

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
(1696–1770)

Psyche Transported to Olympus

Gift of Lore Heinemann in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann

Giambattista Tiepolo
(1696–1770)

Drunken Punchinello

Thaw Collection

Giambattista Tiepolo
(1696–1770)

Large Family Portrait

Gift of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann

Marco Ricci
(1676–1729)

A Roman Capriccio

Purchased as the gift of the Fellows

Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
(1697–1768)

Architectural Capriccio

Gift of János Scholz