LOT 27
上一件
GUSTAV BAUERNFEIND (SULZ 1848-1904 JERUSALEM) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise
作品估价：GBP 800,000 - 1,200,000
货币换算
成交状态：未知
买家佣金拍卖企业在落槌价的基础上收取买家佣金
26%
图录号：
27
拍品名称：
GUSTAV BAUERNFEIND (SULZ 1848-1904 JERUSALEM) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise
拍品描述：
GUSTAV BAUERNFEIND (SULZ 1848-1904 JERUSALEM)
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise
signed and inscribed 'G. Bauernfeind / Jerusalem' (lower right)
oil on canvas
51 ¼ x 78 ¾ in. (130.2 x 200 cm.)
Painted circa 1902.The artist, and by descent to his wife,
Elsie Bertsch Bauernfeind, and by descent to her son,
Otto Bauernfeind, until at least November 1921.
(Probably) with Kunsthandlung Gustav Grundstedt, Hamburg, by 1926.
Private collection, Germany; Sotheby's, London, 21 June 1988, lot 17, when acquired by the following,
with Pyms Gallery, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1988.A. Carmel and H. Schmid, Der Orientmaler Gustav Bauernfeind: Leben und Werk, Stuttgart, 1990, pp. 128, 356 (no. 1) and 360-361, pl. 173.
P. S. Kühner, Gustav Bauernfeind - Gemälde und Aquarelle, Frankfurt am Main, 1995, pp. 233, 306, no. 68, pl. 25.Gustav Bauernfeind’s
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise is an awe-inspiring rendering of one of the most iconic sites in all of the Middle East. Given the central role of Jerusalem to the three Abrahamic faiths, it is remarkable how relatively few Orientalist artists took full advantage of the spectacular artistic potential of its vistas and landmarks. Most of the European Orientalist artists were more active in Istanbul, Algiers or Cairo, concentrating on the exotic rather than the spiritual. Bauernfeind, however, was deeply affected by the depth and diversity of religious expression he encountered during his various journeys throughout North Africa and the Middle East and a significant part of this Orientalist
oeuvre depicts scenes of worship and prayer.
Bauernfeind was initially trained as an architect, and was employed by Adolf Gnauth, who was also a Professor at the Nuremberg School of Design and an artist in his own right. While traveling in Italy for a project for Gauth’s firm in 1873-4, Bauernfeind honed his artistic skills, executing in meticulous detail not only architectural elements but also minute aspects of the landscapes of his surroundings. Upon his return to Germany, he found that although his attention to detail was regarded as remarkable, his work depicting German villages found few interested buyers due to their rather mundane subject matter. He was advised by friends and fellow artists to find a subject matter more
en vogue and, very much aware of the financial opportunities awaiting a painter of Orientalist subjects, he looked to the East as his new source of inspiration.
Bauernfeind made three trips to the Orient during his lifetime before eventually settling there permanently in 1896. From his first trip to Palestine in 1880, Bauernfeind was captivated by the Holy City, its monuments, people and traditions. A consummate observer, the artist was deeply interested in realist detail rather than in the grand narratives that were the hallmark of his Orientalist contemporaries such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Benjamin Constant. In what is classified as his 'fourth Oriental journey', the years 1896-1904 found Bauernfeind resident in Palestine, an enigmatic and multi-faceted land where the artist would spend the rest of his life. Even though he was regarded neither as a member of the Evangelical Church nor the Society of Templars, he held a fascination for prayer customs among a variety of religious sects.
The vista in the present work is a
tour-de-force of rigorous observation and topographical exactitude, a product of the artist’s initial training as an architect. The Al Aqsa Mosque, Dome of the Rock, Hurva Synagogue, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (just completed), Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Golden Gate within the Ottoman walls are all visible across the sweeping expanse of the Kidron Valley. The travellers on the road in the foreground symbolise Jerusalem’s religious and ethnic diversity, representing each of the faiths which regard the city as holy. The man on the left holding a staff is identified by his costume as an Ashkenazi Jew, while walking down the road to the right is an Arab woman carrying a basket of produce. Between these two figures are a group of Orthodox pilgrims, presumably making their way to the recently completed Russian Orthodox Convent of the Ascension at the summit of the Mount of Olives. The entire, expansive landscape is bathed in the light of the early morning sun rising over the Judean hills, integrating the composition into a sublimely rendered whole.
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise
signed and inscribed 'G. Bauernfeind / Jerusalem' (lower right)
oil on canvas
51 ¼ x 78 ¾ in. (130.2 x 200 cm.)
Painted circa 1902.The artist, and by descent to his wife,
Elsie Bertsch Bauernfeind, and by descent to her son,
Otto Bauernfeind, until at least November 1921.
(Probably) with Kunsthandlung Gustav Grundstedt, Hamburg, by 1926.
Private collection, Germany; Sotheby's, London, 21 June 1988, lot 17, when acquired by the following,
with Pyms Gallery, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1988.A. Carmel and H. Schmid, Der Orientmaler Gustav Bauernfeind: Leben und Werk, Stuttgart, 1990, pp. 128, 356 (no. 1) and 360-361, pl. 173.
P. S. Kühner, Gustav Bauernfeind - Gemälde und Aquarelle, Frankfurt am Main, 1995, pp. 233, 306, no. 68, pl. 25.Gustav Bauernfeind’s
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at Sunrise is an awe-inspiring rendering of one of the most iconic sites in all of the Middle East. Given the central role of Jerusalem to the three Abrahamic faiths, it is remarkable how relatively few Orientalist artists took full advantage of the spectacular artistic potential of its vistas and landmarks. Most of the European Orientalist artists were more active in Istanbul, Algiers or Cairo, concentrating on the exotic rather than the spiritual. Bauernfeind, however, was deeply affected by the depth and diversity of religious expression he encountered during his various journeys throughout North Africa and the Middle East and a significant part of this Orientalist
oeuvre depicts scenes of worship and prayer.
Bauernfeind was initially trained as an architect, and was employed by Adolf Gnauth, who was also a Professor at the Nuremberg School of Design and an artist in his own right. While traveling in Italy for a project for Gauth’s firm in 1873-4, Bauernfeind honed his artistic skills, executing in meticulous detail not only architectural elements but also minute aspects of the landscapes of his surroundings. Upon his return to Germany, he found that although his attention to detail was regarded as remarkable, his work depicting German villages found few interested buyers due to their rather mundane subject matter. He was advised by friends and fellow artists to find a subject matter more
en vogue and, very much aware of the financial opportunities awaiting a painter of Orientalist subjects, he looked to the East as his new source of inspiration.
Bauernfeind made three trips to the Orient during his lifetime before eventually settling there permanently in 1896. From his first trip to Palestine in 1880, Bauernfeind was captivated by the Holy City, its monuments, people and traditions. A consummate observer, the artist was deeply interested in realist detail rather than in the grand narratives that were the hallmark of his Orientalist contemporaries such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Benjamin Constant. In what is classified as his 'fourth Oriental journey', the years 1896-1904 found Bauernfeind resident in Palestine, an enigmatic and multi-faceted land where the artist would spend the rest of his life. Even though he was regarded neither as a member of the Evangelical Church nor the Society of Templars, he held a fascination for prayer customs among a variety of religious sects.
The vista in the present work is a
tour-de-force of rigorous observation and topographical exactitude, a product of the artist’s initial training as an architect. The Al Aqsa Mosque, Dome of the Rock, Hurva Synagogue, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (just completed), Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Golden Gate within the Ottoman walls are all visible across the sweeping expanse of the Kidron Valley. The travellers on the road in the foreground symbolise Jerusalem’s religious and ethnic diversity, representing each of the faiths which regard the city as holy. The man on the left holding a staff is identified by his costume as an Ashkenazi Jew, while walking down the road to the right is an Arab woman carrying a basket of produce. Between these two figures are a group of Orthodox pilgrims, presumably making their way to the recently completed Russian Orthodox Convent of the Ascension at the summit of the Mount of Olives. The entire, expansive landscape is bathed in the light of the early morning sun rising over the Judean hills, integrating the composition into a sublimely rendered whole.