Carl Robert Kummer Lot n° 16

Carl Robert Kummer, Torrent near Rosenlaui (Bernese Oberland). 1853. Carl Robert Kummer1810 Dresden - 1889 ibid. Oil on strong paper, completely laminated on painting cardboard. Unsigned. Marked with the place "Rosenlauibad" and dated in detail "6/7 53" on the lower left. Verso with handwritten ownership note. Framed in a profiled golden wooden moulding with ornamental trim. The frame u.Mi. with metal plate, artist's inscription. The work is included in the supplement to the WVZ Nüdling, cf. also WVZ Nüdling 166. Provenance: Collection Prof. Dr. Fritz G. Altmann, Zittau and Hannover . Rosenlaui, situated in the middle of the Rosenlau valley, is considered the smallest village in Switzerland. As early as the end of the 18th century, scholars and writers, including Johann Wolfgang, discovered the natural beauty of the Reichenbach valley with its snowy mountain backdrop, the Rosenlaui glacier and the Rosenlaui gorge. In the 19th century the Rosenlauibad developed into a Belle Époque spa and tourist hostel. The depictions of Swiss Alpine landscapes, popular among Dresden's educated bourgeoisie, prompted Carl Robert Kummer to visit the Swiss mountains several times in the 1950s. He "[...] lived in Rosenlaui, the Canton of Glarus, etc. for months [...]" to collect artistic studies. (citation after Nüdling). A pencil drawing from the artist's estate, dated 28.7.1853 and titled "Rosenlauibad" (WVZ Nüdling 166) shows a comparable motif to the present painting. While here it is a collapsed footbridge over a torrent, the drawing shows an uprooted tree lying across a riverbed. Literature: Elisabeth Nüdling: "Carl Robert Kummer. 1810 -1889. A Dresden landscape painter between romanticism and realism". Munich 2007. p. 114 f. a. p. 235. Painting layer minimally soiled.In the marginal areas partly slight pressure marks, probably due to framing. Corners with crease marks, probably retouched under the varnish. An inconspicuous scratch mark lower middle in the area of the rock. Measures: 38.2 x 59.5 cm, painting board 39.5 x 60.3 cm, frame 47 x 68.5 cm. Carl Robert Kummer 1810 Dresden - 1889 ibid. German painter. Godson and pupil of Caspar David Friedrich. 1826-29 studied at the Dresden academy under Carl August Richter, since 1829 in the studio of Johann. Ch. Clausen Dahl. 1832-37 study trip to Italy, Dalmatia and Montenegro, 1851 stay in Scotland, 1859 in Portugal and 1868 in Egypt. Participated in the foundation of the 'Deutsche Kunstgenossenschaft' as well as in the board of the 'Hermann-Stiftung', which supported Saxon artists. Since 1848 honorary member of the Dresden academy. 1859 appointment as professor. Works by Kummer can be found, among others, in the Dresden Galerie Neue Meister and in the Städtisches Museum zu Leipzig.