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| JOHAN CHRISTIAN DAHL (Bergen 1788 – 1857 Dresden)
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| Elbe Landscape near Dresden
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Oil on paper, signed and dated lower right ‘Dahl 1851’.
210 x 350mm
Provenance:
J.R. Bull
Private Collection, Norway
Exhibited:
Bergen Billedgalleri, 1880, cat. no. 41
Christiania Kunstforening, 1888, cat. no. 119
Literature:
M.L. Bang, Johan Christian Dahl, Life and Works, Oslo, 1987, No. 1133
By the time Dahl returned to Dresden from his two year long sojourn in Italy in 1821 he had developed his own view of nature, independent of the 17th century Dutch artists he had studied so intensively in Copenhagen. In Italy, his study of nature gained maturity. After timid beginnings in Denmark, his outdoor sketching became more systematic. His small, spontaneous studies, especially the sketches in and around Dresden taken ‘sur le vif’ with their free and summary technique made Dahl the leading exponent of plein air painting in Dresden. It assured him a constant flow of pupils who sought out Dahl’s landscape classes in order to paint nature as is. His small quickly executed landscape sketches were also highly popular and affordable with the many buyers in Dresden as well as further afield. Among his customers were the foreign envoys at the court and the growing numbers of travelers passing through Dresden eager to snap up one of his typical ‘Nordic Stimmungs Bilder’. One of his most reliable clients was J.R. Bull, the first owner of the sketch, who had by far the largest private collection of Dahl’s work.
The present oil sketch - as usually painted on paper – and in mint condition, depicts the Elbe valley on a bright summer’s day. Dahl is sitting right near the water’s edge and shows us a bend of the river. On the far side of the river, moored and showing the mast without sails, he shows us a typical Elbe River barge. On the opposite river bank we can just make out some tiny figures and further up the bank some dense vegetation and a row of fur trees further back. Below the partly clouded bright blue summer sky we can just make out the silhouette of the mountains in the distance, which are defused by the strong light. The light- and space effects as well as the vibrating rhythm of his brush strokes give us a direct impression of the painter’s searching curiosity about nature. Despite being a Romanticist, Dahl was foremost a Naturalist, and this is best seen in his Dresden plein-air sketches painted in one afternoon.
During his long stay in Dresden Dahl settled down to a happy life of domesticity and work. His connection with the Academy was loose, but he was not hankering after worldly glory. He appreciated his independence more than academic honour and was content with family life, enough commissions for paintings, and with the teaching of pupils who sought him out. Thanks to his intelligence and lively charm Dahl had many friends and was a respected participant on the Dresden cultural scene. In 1828 Dahl was among the founder members of the Sächsische Kunstverein and sat on the committee. He had a close friendship with Caspar David Friedrich and lived in the same house, Elbstrasse 33. Apart from his study trips to his beloved Norway Dahl remained in Dresden for the rest of his life and his artistic output remained remarkably steadfast right through his long career until his death in 18
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P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd - 15 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AX, United Kingdom Tel: +44-20-7491 7408 Fax: +44-20-7491 8851 contact@colnaghi.co.uk
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