At eighteen, Guglielmo Ciardi entered the Venetian Academy, where he studied perspective and landscape. He afterward spent a year travelling throughout Italy to study contemporary artistic trends. In Florence, Ciardi met the Macchiaioli and also painted in the countryside with Telemaco Signorini, making the acquaintance of Fattori and Silvestro Lega. He also journeyed to Rome, where he met Nino Costa, and to Naples, where he met Morelli, Filippo Palizzi and painters of the Scuola di Resina. Returning to Venice, Ciardi concentrated more intensely on outdoor scenes, colour and the blinding effects of light reflected off water. He resuscitated the Venetian view painting of Canaletto and in 1894 he accepted the chair of Veduta painting at the Academy in Venice. His daughter, Emma, and his son, Beppe, also painted landscapes.