Giovanni Antonio Guardi

Do you own a piece by Gianantonio Guardi and would you like to know more about the work and its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your painting, provide you with an estimate of the market price, and help you to sell it at the best price.

Status, price and estimation of the artist Giovanni Antonio Guardi

Price of a drawing and watercolour: 1,000 – 50,000 €.

Price of a painting: 5,000 – 200,000 €.

If you would like to have a painting by Guardi’s appraised, our experts will take care of everything.

A family workshop

Giovanni Antonio Guardi was an Italian painter born in 1699 in Vienna, he died in the same city in 1760.

Son of Domenico Guardi, a Viennese painter living in Venice, Giovanni Guardi learnt the painting trade in his father’s studio. They both trained the one who would become the most famous of the family, Giovanni’s youngest son: Francesco Guardi.

After the death of his father in 1716, Giovanni Guardi ran the family workshop, assisted by his two brothers Francesco and the very young Niccolò Guardi. If Giovanni was the one giving tguidance to the workshop’s practice, his collaboration with his brothers was such that it was still sometimes difficult to distinguish their respective styles.

An eclectic style

The first paintings attributed to Giovanni Guardi are still very much in the Austrian style of the 18th century, which the young artist probably acquired from his father.

Guardi was then mainly hired to copy, more or less freely, the most famous Italian works such as those of Titian, Veronese, Sebastiano Ricci or those of Solimena.

These copies of old masters enable him to acquire a certain notoriety. Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, a famous art collector and German aristocrat, was one of the patrons who appreciated and recognised the work of Giovanni Guardi and offered him regular commissions. In 1741 Giovanni Guardi even received a commission for portraits of the Spanish royal family, which once again attests to his success.

Painting the Bible

Finally, Giovanni Guardi responded to numerous religious commissions, which no doubt explains why a large part of his repertoire is biblical in character. For example, the Vision of St. John of Matha in the church of Pasiano or a series of paintings on the Story of Tobias in the Church of the Angel Raphael in Venice are among his most famous works.

His most famous masterpiece is The Death of St. Joseph, a work that borrows from the Baroque and the masters of the Italian Renaissance copied in his early years, but innovates in its naturalistic and romantic style, which is in fashion with painters such as Domenico Fetti and Alessandro Magnasco.

Giovanni Guardi’s works are now in great demand, as evidenced by the sale of a pair of Apollo and Diana sold at 223 000 € (Christie’s, New York, 2015) or this Angel Holding a Palm Leaf, a drawing recently sold for 7,000 € (Christie’s, London, 2019).

Appraise and sell a painting by Gianantonio Guardi

If you own a Gianantonio Guardi painting or any other sculpture, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your painting. In the event of a sale, our specialists will also advise you on the various options available to sell your work at the best price.