.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
As was common practice at the Viennese Academy at the beginning of the 19th century, Waldmüler trained his technique by making copies of Old Masters in public collections. Inspired by the classics he travelled to Italy, returning in 1825 to established a successful practice as a portrait painter. His career flourished and he received royal patronage with his portrait of Franz I in 1827. Although his initial reputation was based on the painstakingly executed portraits Waldmülers true fame came with the resounding admiration he received for his landscapes. He would become an artist of great international standing and in the year the present lot was executed, 1856 , during a stay in London, he sold 31 pictures to the British royal household and court.
The present lot combines three elements from his career in a very rare composition of tangible luminosity. Waldmülers has interpreted the classical nude within the contemporary genre, accurately observed and meticulously painted. His skill is self-evident in his keen eye for details, the colourful and lifelike branches of the Oleander - clearly based on a close study of nature - and his way of evoking the atmosphere of the Mediterranean, setting the stage for this mythological scene.
The present lot combines three elements from his career in a very rare composition of tangible luminosity. Waldmülers has interpreted the classical nude within the contemporary genre, accurately observed and meticulously painted. His skill is self-evident in his keen eye for details, the colourful and lifelike branches of the Oleander - clearly based on a close study of nature - and his way of evoking the atmosphere of the Mediterranean, setting the stage for this mythological scene.