Joseph Rebell (1787–1828): Observed Nature and Romantic Imagination

Joseph Rebell’s Neapolitan landscapes range from carefully observed views of royal residences and coastal sites to more dramatic paintings of storms, shipwrecks and volcanic light. The three works considered here belong to this second group: Mareggiata al Fusaro of 1819, Burrasca al chiaro di luna nel Golfo di Napoli of 1822 and Burrasca al tramontoContinue reading “Joseph Rebell (1787–1828): Observed Nature and Romantic Imagination”

Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857): Two Landscapes through Windows

“The eye must be opened to the true and wondrous life of nature, and the hand must be trained to do the soul’s bidding quickly, easily, and beautifully. This alone can be the aim of instruction in any of the pictorial arts.” Carl Gustav Carus, Nine Letters on Landscape Painting, Letter VIII. Johan Christian Dahl’sContinue reading “Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857): Two Landscapes through Windows”

Francesco Lojacono and the Changing Vision of Sicily

Francesco Lojacono (1838–1915), Palermo e il Monte Pellegrino da un terrazzo, 1874, oil on canvas, Novosibirsk State Fine Arts Museum. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons). Francesco Lojacono (Palermo, 1838–1915) occupies a central place in the history of nineteenth-century Italian landscape painting. Working for more than half a century, he transformed the representation of the Sicilian countryside fromContinue reading “Francesco Lojacono and the Changing Vision of Sicily”