Franz Richard Unterberger, Austrian 1837-1902- Sunset at the Santa Maria della Salute, Venice; oil on panel, signed 'F R Unterberger' (lower right), further signed, titled and inscribed 'St Maria della Salute a Venise / FR. Unterberger. Bruxelles'...

Franz Richard Unterberger,

Austrian 1837-1902-

Sunset at the Santa Maria della Salute, Venice;

oil on panel, signed 'F R Unterberger' (lower right), further signed, titled and inscribed 'St Maria della Salute a Venise / FR. Unterberger. Bruxelles' on the reverse, bears old label with number '165' on the reverse, 35.6 x 65 cm.

Provenance: With Richard Green, London, no.AD109.; Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 10 October 1986, lot 24.; An important Private Collection, UK.

Note: The present work was painted in the last decade of Unterberger’s life, after 1888, when he was prone to revisiting his most successful subjects from the late 1870s and treating them again with higher levels of virtuosity. The subject clearly found favour with the artist as he captured it in a number of versions which are known today. See, for example, two larger variations of the present work, though on canvas, which were offered at Christie’s, London, 20 June 2002, lot 82 and Sotheby’s, New York, 1 February 2019, lot 545.

Dominated by the basilica Santa Maria Della Salute in the background, the present work evokes the serenity of a sunset evening in Venice, with the gondolas gliding on the Grand Canal and elegantly dressed Venetians promenading in the foreground. Unterberger adopts a soft palette, to great effect, of romantic earthy hues with some sparsely adopted touches of red to enliven the scene. The broad, panoramic scene is layered with levels of detail, and in the distance, the two domes and bell towers of the Salute obscure the brightness of the setting sun, bathing the canal in an afternoon glow. Whilst Unterberger’s keen eye for architectural elements is reminiscent of Italian vedutismo, this animated scene rendered with quick gestural brushstrokes is typical of the artist’s more romantic approach to the genre. The painting is particularly rare and special for being on panel and, as with his few other works on panel, was presumably taken ‘in situ’. Indeed, a sense of immediacy is very much present.

We are grateful to Professor Sybille Moser-Ernst for confirming the authenticity of this lot, which is accompanied by her letter, and for dating it to the last decade of the artist’s life.
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