Lot 1270 | Oswald Achenbach | The Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius

ACHENBACH, OSWALD
Düsseldorf 1827 - 1905

Title: The Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius.
View from the streets above the city over the coast.
Date: 1881.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 140 x 198cm.
Notation: Signed and dated lower left: "Osw. Achenbach 1881".
Frame: Framed.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany, aquired at Lempertz auction, May 2017;
Private ownership, Germany, since 2004;
Private ownership, Frankfurt, since ca. 1970.

Oswald Achenbach's paintings, his visualisations of Italy as a place of longing, are timeless. On the one hand, this is due to the subject matter itself: the 'land where the lemons blossom' still exudes a special magic for audiences north of the Alps to this day. On the other hand, it is Oswald Achenbach's special and always fascinating ability to capture the colours, light and atmosphere of Italy on canvas that makes his paintings classics.
Between 1845 and 1895, the painter undertook seven journeys that sometimes took him as far as the northern Italian lakes and sometimes as far as Sicily. Accompanied by fellow artists or family members, Oswald Achenbach collected special Italian impressions on location. He took recognisable landmarks and monuments as well as typical landscapes back to Düsseldorf in his stock of motifs, where the majority of his large-format paintings were created. The then still young art market, the press and the public celebrated the painter euphorically and "an Italian Achenbach" became an absolute prestige object for the upper middle classes.
Seven examples from Oswald Achenbach's treasure trove of motifs are collected here and demonstrate the versatility of the celebrated star of the Düsseldorf School of painting. The views of the Bay of Naples, which are represented here twice (cat. 1270 and cat. 1271), are a particular focus of his repertoire. The evening beach scene from 1879 is also the earliest of the works shown here. This painting also clearly reflects Achenbach's passion for the theatre; he was an enthusiastic amateur actor and theatre designer.
In its dense atmosphere, the religious and at the same time colourful life of Rome fascinates against the background of ancient buildings, here the Colosseum (cat. 1265). The recognisable silhouette of Florence (cat. 1267) and the typical Campagna picture (cat. 1269), on the other hand, are about vastness and light. Oswald Achenbach also travelled to the Italian islands: From Sicily he brought back a street scene at Capo d'Orlando (cat. 1266) and from Ischia a view of the Castello Aragonese (cat. 1271). With the paintings shown here, Oswald Achenbach, who died exactly 120 years ago, still invites us on a tour of Italy today.