Lot 1311 Dα

Ernst Fries learnt to paint in his home town of Heidelberg in young years, later continuing his education in Karlsruhe. He began to study at the academy in Munich in 1818, before moving to Darmstadt where he was taught by Georg Moller. There he also began to study optics and perspective. Following journeys through Germany and Switzerland he began an educational sojourn to Italy in 1823, which was to last almost four years. In Rome, he came into contact with several German artists living and working there, including Joseph Anton Koch and Friedrich Overbeck. He also met Camille Corot in 1826 and began collaborating with him. Fries returned to Heidelberg in 1927 before moving to Munich two years later. In 1831 he became court painter to Grand Duke Leopold of Baden. He later settled in Karlsruhe, where he died in 1833.
The present work is thought to have been painted around 1830, and can be compared to two of Fries' very similar views of Tivoli. One of these works is housed in the Fürstliche Kunstsammlung Thurn und Taxis in Regensburg (made in 1830), the other in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (made in 1829/1830, cf. Wechssler, 2000, p. 326-327, no. 632 & 633, each illus.). Sigrid Wechssler saw the present work and made a spoken confirmation of Ernst Fries' authorship several years ago. Unfortunately, the work was not included in the monograph on the artist published in the year 2000. Sigrid Wechssler passed away a few years ago.
We are grateful to Dr. Matthias Lehmann for additional information about this work.