Johann Anton Castell 1810 – Dresden – 1867 The harbour of Pozzuoli
Oil on canvas. 1846. 52 x 74.5 cm. Signed (“JAC” in ligature) and dated lower right. Framed.
Period
19th century
Technique
Oil
Details
Literatur:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 4 Bde., Dritter, unveränderter Nachdruck, Hofheim am Taunus, H. Schmidt & C. Günther, 1979 (zuerst Fr. v. Boetticher’s Verlag, Dresden 1891-1901) hier Bd. 1, S. 173, Kat.-Nr. 5 (“Ansicht auf Dresden, Mondschein”).
Ausstellung:
Verzeichniß der (…) öffentlich ausgestellten Werke der bildenden Kunst, Königlich Sächsische Akademie der Künste, Dresden 1846, Kat.-Nr. 198 (“Mondscheinlandschaft, Ansicht auf Dresden”).
Provenienz:
Privatsammlung, Frankreich, wohl seit dem 19. Jahrhundert;
Grisebach, Berlin, Auktion, 30.5.2018, Los 111;
Privatsammlung, Deutschland.
Description
The life and art of the painter Johann Anton Castell are closely linked to Dresden. He studied there from 1827, initially in the landscape class and later in the academy’s “art school”. From 1829, he attended the studio of Johan Christian Clausen Dahl and followed the Dresden-based Norwegian painter’s basic Romantic mood. Castell undertook extensive study trips to Bohemia, Vienna and Tyrol, but he mainly found his motifs in the surroundings of the baroque art metropolis and in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
The view of Dresden on offer is a brilliant example of Castell’s art of painting; instead of showing Dresden in broad daylight, he depicts it in the night sky. The view sweeps from the left bank of the Elbe across a boat landing stage to the silhouette of the city, which is bathed in a cool, silvery light from the low, full moon reflected in the water. Ever since Bernardo Bellotto had painted Dresden from the opposite right bank from the height of the Neustadt to the Pieschener Ufer, the so-called “Canaletto view” had been a leitmotif for 19th century vedutists. By changing the location, Castell moved the dome of the Frauenkirche to the centre of the picture, surmounted only by the ship’s masts rising up into the night-blue sky.
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Oil on canvas. 1846. 52 x 74.5 cm. Signed (“JAC” in ligature) and dated lower right. Framed.
Period
19th century
Technique
Oil
Details
Literatur:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 4 Bde., Dritter, unveränderter Nachdruck, Hofheim am Taunus, H. Schmidt & C. Günther, 1979 (zuerst Fr. v. Boetticher’s Verlag, Dresden 1891-1901) hier Bd. 1, S. 173, Kat.-Nr. 5 (“Ansicht auf Dresden, Mondschein”).
Ausstellung:
Verzeichniß der (…) öffentlich ausgestellten Werke der bildenden Kunst, Königlich Sächsische Akademie der Künste, Dresden 1846, Kat.-Nr. 198 (“Mondscheinlandschaft, Ansicht auf Dresden”).
Provenienz:
Privatsammlung, Frankreich, wohl seit dem 19. Jahrhundert;
Grisebach, Berlin, Auktion, 30.5.2018, Los 111;
Privatsammlung, Deutschland.
Description
The life and art of the painter Johann Anton Castell are closely linked to Dresden. He studied there from 1827, initially in the landscape class and later in the academy’s “art school”. From 1829, he attended the studio of Johan Christian Clausen Dahl and followed the Dresden-based Norwegian painter’s basic Romantic mood. Castell undertook extensive study trips to Bohemia, Vienna and Tyrol, but he mainly found his motifs in the surroundings of the baroque art metropolis and in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
The view of Dresden on offer is a brilliant example of Castell’s art of painting; instead of showing Dresden in broad daylight, he depicts it in the night sky. The view sweeps from the left bank of the Elbe across a boat landing stage to the silhouette of the city, which is bathed in a cool, silvery light from the low, full moon reflected in the water. Ever since Bernardo Bellotto had painted Dresden from the opposite right bank from the height of the Neustadt to the Pieschener Ufer, the so-called “Canaletto view” had been a leitmotif for 19th century vedutists. By changing the location, Castell moved the dome of the Frauenkirche to the centre of the picture, surmounted only by the ship’s masts rising up into the night-blue sky.
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Time, Location
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