Christie’s roundel
Lot 12

William Callow, R.W.S. (1812-1908)

View of the Ca' Foscari on the Grand Canal, Venice

Closed4 June 2009

Price Realised

GBP 11,250

More Information

How to sell

William Callow, R.W.S. (1812-1908)
View of the Ca' Foscari on the Grand Canal, Venice
signed with initials 'W C' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolour
9¾ x 13¾ in. (24.8 x 34.9 cm.)

Specialist note

Callow made his first tour of Italy in 1840. He visited Venice during the summer and accounts from his journal reveal his instant love of the city:
'Being anxious to arrive at Venice we embarked in a gondola, traversing several miles over the lagoon, and arrived in the evening at the steps of the Hotel Europa, delighted with our first view of the Queen of the Adriatic. We stayed for ten days, seeing all the wonderful sights and making many sketches. We left Venice with great regret' (J. Reynolds, William Callow R.W.S., London, 1980, p.75).
Callow began to exhibit Venetian views at the Old Watercolour Society in the following year. In 1846 his spent his honeymoon in Venice and he made frequent trips thereafter.