Lot 1536 Dα

This depiction of a water mill was painted in the early 1860s. At this point, Andreas Achenbach had already advanced to become one of the leading landscape painters in Germany. His international breakthrough in the United States was to follow when his works were exhibited in the “Düsseldorf Gallery” along with those of his brother Oswald as well as other artists from the Rhenish art metropolis.
Andreas Achenbach had reiterated the water mill motif numerous times between 1860 and 1870. The present work is the beginning of a development which culminated in his great work “Erftmühle mit Wäscherinnen” in the Düsseldorf Kunstmuseum. The landscapes of this decade are clearly influenced by Jacob Ruisdael's poetic interpretation of reality, and evoke a romantic mood that is also captured in this wooded summer scene.