A highly important collection of 19th century paintings

Architecture painting by Leo von Klenze, Friedrich Nerly or Domenico Quaglio and genre scenes by Carl Spitzweg – the private collection of around 100 paintings from the 19th century is rich in great names. It will be auctioned at Lempertz in October.

A Westphalian private collector began acquiring 19th-century paintings in the 1980s and soon found the most exciting areas in this century of upheaval and subsequent diversity: Landscape and genre, architecture and romanticism fascinated him particularly. With a keen eye and a fine touch, he compiled his exquisite collection primarily from the offerings of the major auction houses.

This collection has come to Lempertz from his estate and will be auctioned this coming autumn. The numerous highlights include masterpieces of architectural painting and cityscapes, whilst almost all of the masters of this still extremely popular genre are represented in the collection with numerous paintings, and the number of cities portrayed is correspondingly high: Rome and Venice, Constantinople, Reims, Rotterdam and Leuven, as well as Hanover, Brunswick, Frankfurt and Nuremberg.

As an architect, Leo von Klenze played a key role in characterising Classicism in Germany and shaped the Italianate cityscape of Munich with numerous buildings. As a painter, he possessed the same genius, although he only left behind a few works. It is thus all the more remarkable that three oil paintings by Leo von Klenze feature in the auction. The motifs are, of course, of Italy.

Friedrich Nerly also worked in Italy and, as a German Romantic in Venice, contributed to the city's image with his atmospheric views. Nerly lived and worked there for more than forty years, was married to a Venetian woman, and was involved in society life. From the 17th November 2024, Anger Museum Erfurt will be holding a solo exhibition dedicated to this artist. In his paintings in the Lempertz auction on 16th November, Nerly shows us his Venice in the romantic moonlight, in atmospheric evening light and, in a third example, in a way that few have ever experienced the city: covered in snow.

Domenico Quaglio has masterfully captured the market square and St Mary's Church of the northern Alpine city of Hanover. The numerous figures in this painting bring to life the bustling everyday activities of the city as it was two centuries ago.

Carl Spitzweg is one of the most popular genre painters of the 19th century, his scenes raising questions with subtle humour. He created his most famous motifs in just a few versions, whilst his ‘Hagestolz’ became a German term to define a stalwart bachelor. This painting is also offered in the auction, as is an unfortunately topical motif of longing: ‘Frieden im Lande’ (Peace in the Land) shows a soldier in a charmed, relaxed state, the kind that one can only dream of for all military personnel. Similarly, we wish the ‘Liebschaft am Faden’ (Love affair on a thread) a happy ending - another major work by Spitzweg in the collection.

Wilhelm Kuhnert's animal paintings appeal to our longing for distant lands. Here too, the collector had a sensitive and keen eye, as ‘Ein Löwe und eine Löwin’ (A lion and a lioness) or ‘Elefant in der Savanna’ (Elephant in the Savannah) testify.

With works by the Romantics such as Barend Cornelis Koekkoek and many others, the paintings in this unusual collection take us back to European landscapes. Numerous genre scenes bring us up close to a world far removed in time, be it official such as ‘An der Börse’ (At the Stock Exchange), ‘Jägerlatein’ (The Yarn), ‘Schlechte Witze’ (Bad Jokes) or ’Ein gutes Blatt’ (A Good Hand).

In addition to those mentioned, the collection contains numerous other discoveries and some large and small treasures by artists such as Hugo Kauffmann, Max Clarenbach, Andreas and Oswald Achenbach, or the ‘Szene aus Goethes Faust’ (Scene from Goethe's Faust) by Eduard von Grützner.

Lempertz is delighted to be able to auction this highly significant and comprehensive collection of 19th century paintings at the end of ocotober.

If you have any questions or require printable illustrations, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jan Bykowski
Press and Public Relations
info@lempertz.com
Tel. 0221 925729 -57