.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Franz Richard Unterberger, son of a Tyrolean artist, is one of the most famous landscape painters of the picturesque naturalistic genre. By the 1880s he was already a celebrity participating in the most exclusive and illustrious exhibitions in Europe and beyond.
In its style and finish, the present work is one of the best examples of the artist's late oeuvre. The spontaneous brushwork, the pastel shades and the use of white highlights are all typical of Unterberger's work of this period. His colours stay within the romantic palette of turquoise and pinkish earths, interspersed with touches of yellowish-green and red to catch the eye. The details of the house façades along the promenade act as a repoussoir and the illusion of space remains of paramount importance. However, as the viewer gazes into the distance, there are strong echoes of Impressionism, athough Unterberger did not in any sense belong to this movement. Reality finds itself idealised through the choice of the poetical, idyllic or picturesque motif, through composition, effects and the placement of figures, which support the overall mood. Despite the realistic details, the elements of the Sublime link this painting to the idealistic tradition in Germany and Austria.
The artist is striving to create an illusion of harmony between a certain human emotion and its equivalent atmosphere in nature, culminating in a quintessential example of the picturesque in an important Salon painting.
We are grateful to Dr. Sybille-Karin Moser for her assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry.
In its style and finish, the present work is one of the best examples of the artist's late oeuvre. The spontaneous brushwork, the pastel shades and the use of white highlights are all typical of Unterberger's work of this period. His colours stay within the romantic palette of turquoise and pinkish earths, interspersed with touches of yellowish-green and red to catch the eye. The details of the house façades along the promenade act as a repoussoir and the illusion of space remains of paramount importance. However, as the viewer gazes into the distance, there are strong echoes of Impressionism, athough Unterberger did not in any sense belong to this movement. Reality finds itself idealised through the choice of the poetical, idyllic or picturesque motif, through composition, effects and the placement of figures, which support the overall mood. Despite the realistic details, the elements of the Sublime link this painting to the idealistic tradition in Germany and Austria.
The artist is striving to create an illusion of harmony between a certain human emotion and its equivalent atmosphere in nature, culminating in a quintessential example of the picturesque in an important Salon painting.
We are grateful to Dr. Sybille-Karin Moser for her assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry.