Julius von Klever
A Forest in Autumn
Oil on canvas. 99 x 63 cm.
Signed and dated lower right: J. v. Klever 1909.
Klever had already enjoyed immense success at exhibitions in St. Petersburg, Paris, and Berlin in the time around 1880, but the 30 year old painter truly rose to stardom when his late Romantic landscapes were purchased by both the future Tzar Alexander III and Pavel Tretyakov. However, his success and growing fortune, tireless travel and exhibition itinerary, and the world of money and fame led the artist to develop a gambling addiction that drove him into debt and disrepute. He was later able to overcome the habit and find his way back to a respectable career as an artist.
Although it was during sojourns far from St. Petersburg, visiting Finland, Riga, Belarus, and finally Germany, that helped him find his way back to himself, Klever's true strength lay in capturing the magic of his native Russia like no other artist. His melancholic use of light allows lends his works a maximum of painterly expression. As a darling of the Romanov dynasty and the St. Petersburg Salon, Klever's fame faded somewhat following the October Revolution, but today his works once again enjoy great popularity on the international art market.
Provenance
In German private ownership for two generations.