Francesco Guardi
The inscription at lower left indicates that this drawing depicts Levico, a small town in the mountainous Trentino region northwest of Venice, near the source of the river Brenta. It is one of six sheets that record the artist's autumn 1778 journey to his family home. Although best known for his views of Venice, Guardi here created one of his most ravishing depictions of landscape. Despite the drawing's apparent spontaneity, it may have been made in the artist's studio rather than on the spot, given its large scale and complex combination of chalk, pen, and wash. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"
Watermark: Three crescents over letters "BFA" (cf. Heawood 873);
Watermark: Countermark: letters "PS".
Paulme, Marius, former owner.
Stralem, C. I., Mrs., former owner.
Stralem, Donald S., former owner.
Stralem, Donald S., Mrs., former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 189, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Victor Thaw. Part II. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1985, no. 22. (also in Thaw III, no. 36)
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 36.