The Uppark Master (active Venice 1751)

Charles Beddington, to whom we are grateful, has pointed out that this canvas would appear to be by the hand responsible for a set of Venetian views at Uppark, West Sussex. These were evidently purchased or ordered in Venice by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, 1st Bt. (1714-1774), who also acquired sets of pictures by Batoni and Vernet, among others, partly because he had no hereditary collection to which to add. While Canaletto was in Venice on 8 March 1751 and returned to London on 30 July, Fetherstonhaugh was also in the city in July of that year on his return journey from Rome and Naples, making it a possibility that their paths crossed. Fetherstonhaugh was directed by Consul Smith to the present accomplished painter, possibly a former pupil or assistant of Canaletto, whose personality has been isolated by Charles Beddington. Versions of two of the Uppark pictures, evidently by the same hand, the Canareggio and the Entrance to the Grand Canal with S. Maria della Salute, were exhibited as by Canaletto, at the Musée Maillol, Paris, Canaletto à Venise, 2012-13, nos. 27-8.