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Giovanni Antonio Canal,  a Venetian artist famous for his landscapes, or vedute of Venice, better known as Canaletto,  born Venice, Republic of Venice, October 28, 1697 – April 19, 1768, to Bernardo and Artemisia Barbieri, and served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother.

Early career

He began in his father's occupation, that of a theatrical scene painter. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini, and started painting the daily life of the city and its people, he was also a significant printmaker in etching. After returning from Rome in 1719, he has been  offered to be his pupil by Luca Carlevarijs (Udine, 1663 - Venice, 1730) who was a pioneer of Venetian vedutismo and the real precursor of Canaletto. He was influenced by Carlevarijs, especially regarding the concentration on a limited number of symbolic places in Venice such as San Marco and the Grand Canal. While he studied with the older Luca Carlevaris, a moderately talented painter of urban cityscapes, he rapidly became his master's equal. He began painting in his famous topographical style. His first known signed and dated work is Architectural Capriccio (1723, Milan, in a private collection). His works portraying his native city go beyond a simple representation. They are neither pure inventions nor mere recreations. His use of light, his capacity to reduce the architectural information and to combine different perspectives give it a special quality.

In 1725, the painter Alessandro Marchesini, who was also the buyer for the Lucchese art collector Stefano Conti had inquired about buying two more views of Venice, when the agent informed him to consider instead the work of "Antonio Canal... it is like Carlevaris, but you can see the sun shining in it."  Antonio Canal also used other sources of inspiration. However, his way of showing the space and formulating it in a surface of color is not inspired by any predecessor. Antonio Canal was not limited to what his eyes could see.
 

His nephew Bernardo Bellotto was also a landscape painter; he sometimes used the name of Canaletto to further his own career.

Outdoor painting

Much of Canaletto's early artwork was painted 'from nature', differing from the then customary practice of completing paintings in the studio. Some of his later works do revert to this custom, as suggested by the tendency of distant figures to be painted as blobs of colour - an effect produced by using a camera obscura, which blurs farther-away objects. However, his paintings are always notable for their accuracy: he recorded the seasonal submerging of Venice in water and ice.

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Early and late work

Canaletto's early works remain his most coveted and, according to many authorities, his best. One of his finest early pieces is The Stonemason's Yard (1729, London, the National Gallery) which depicts a humble working area of the city. Later Canaletto became known for his grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the city's famed pageantry and waning traditions, making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colors. For these qualities, his works may be said to have anticipated Impressionism.

Work in England

This 1752 painting of Northumberland House in London is an example of Canaletto's work during his residence in England. Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour, most notably the merchant Joseph Smith (who was later appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744). It was Smith who acted as an agent for Canaletto, first in requesting paintings of Venice from the painter in the early 1720s and helping him to sell his paintings to other Englishmen.

In the 1740s Canaletto's market was disrupted when the War of the Austrian Succession led to a reduction in the number of British visitors to Venice. Smith also arranged for the publication of a series of etchings of caprichos (capriccio Italian for fancy), but the returns were not high enough, and in 1746 Canaletto moved to London, to be closer to his market.

He remained in England until 1755, producing views of London (including the new Westminster Bridge) and of his patrons' castles and houses. His 1754 painting of Old Walton Bridge includes an image of Canaletto himself.

After his return to Venice, Canaletto was elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763. He continued to paint until his death in 1768. In his later years he often worked from old sketches, but he sometimes produced surprising new compositions. He was willing to make subtle alternations to topography for artistic effect. His pupils included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Gabriele Bella, Giuseppe Moretti, and Giuseppe Bernardino Bison.

Canaletto's views always fetched high prices, and as early as the 18th century Catherine the Great and other European monarchs vied for his grandest paintings. The record price paid at auction for a Canaletto is £18.6 million for View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, set at Sotheby's in London in July 2005.