The Engine

PRESS RELEASE VENICE: CANALETTO AND HIS RIVALS 13 October – 16 January 2011 Sainsbury Wing Admission charge Sponsored by Credit Suisse ‘Antonio Canale…astounds everyone in this city who sees his work, which is like that of Carlevarijs, but you can see the sun shining in it.’ (Alessandro Marchesini, painter and adviser to collectors, July 1725) This landmark exhibition presents the finest assembly of Venetian views by Canaletto and his 18th-century rivals to be seen in a generation. Bringing together around 50 major loans from the public and private collections of the UK, Europe and North America, Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals highlights the extraordinary variety of Venetian view painting, juxtaposing masterpieces by Canaletto with key works by artists including Luca Carlevarijs, Michele Marieschi, Bernardo Bellotto and Francesco Guardi. Featured works span the 18th-century, from one of the first accurately datable Venetian views by L...

FREDERICK CAYLEY ROBINSON: ACTS OF MERCY 14 July – 17 October 2010 Sunley Room Admission free Supported by the Wellcome Trust Frederick Cayley Robinson (1862–1927) is one of the most distinctive yet elusive British painters of the early 20th century. This will be the first exhibition of his work to be shown in the United Kingdom for over 30 years. The four central paintings on display are the summation of Cayley Robinson’s artistic ambition. Executed between 1916 and 1920, his masterpiece, Acts of Mercy, comprises four large-scale allegorical works commissioned to adorn the new Middlesex Hospital, rebuilt between 1928 and 1935. Combining modernity with tradition to remarkable effect, the artist emulates the spiritual integrity and methods of the Old Masters he encountered in the National Gallery. Alongside Cayley Robinson’s modern works, National Gallery paintings by Piero della Francesca (The Baptism of Christ, 1450s), Sandro Botticelli (Four Scenes from the Early Life of Saint Zen...