Oswald Achenbach (1827 Düsseldorf - 1905 ibid.), Fishermen in front of the Bay of Naples

oil on canvas, 89 cm x 135 cm, signed, 1880 dated doubled, restored, retouched, slightly craquelure

Oswald Achenbach, together with his brother Andreas Achenbach, was considered the ''A and O'' of 19th century landscape painting. As an artist he is ascribed to the Düsseldorf School of Painting. This refers to the composition at that time of various painters who studied, taught and worked in this environment at the Royal Prussian Academy of Art - today world-famous as the Düsseldorf Academy of Art - around the middle of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century. Achenbach travelled to Italy for the first time as early as the 1850s. After his return to Düsseldorf, he was already known beyond the borders of Germany. In 1863 he was honoured to be appointed as professor of landscape painting at the Academy of Arts. This, along with his marriage to Julie Arnz, the daughter of the publisher Heinrich Arnz, meant social advancement. In 1872, he already resigned from his post so as not to be restricted in his own artistic development, which of course included travelling. The painting ''Fishermen in front of the Bay of Naples'' is dated 1880, precisely the time when Oswald Achenbach travelled to Italy with his brother-in-law, Albert Arnz. The artist succeeded in capturing the wonderful atmosphere of the Neapolitan Gulf through the glazed application of paint. Presumably the view of the Vesuvius was chosen from one of the fishing villages between Naples and Amalfi, which lie along the shore. The scenery shows the freedom of children playing in the waves of the sea, as well as the deep-rooted religiosity of Italy, during the blessing of a priest on the shore. Atmospheric landscapes through an effective, atmosphere-enhancing treatment of light and colour make up his oeuvre. Today, Achenbach's oil paintings can be seen in museums, including the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.