2191
Winterauktionen 24.–25.11.2023
Lerch, Joseph Wilhelm attr.
1817 Freiburg i.Br. - 1901 ibid.
Panorama of the city of Freiburg i.Br.
2nd half 19th C. Watercolour and opaque white over pencil on thin brownish paper. Unsigned. Verso on the back of the frame an art print of the Kunstsalon Straetz with a detail of the watercolour as well as with the printed artist's and work's data.
H 40,5, W 129 cm (frame). Gilt frame.
For those who are interested in the urban development and history of Freiburg in the 19th century, the so-called «Lerchplan (Lerch map)» in the Freiburg city archives with inventory number 103 is well known. It bears the name of its creator and was commissioned by the municipal council in 1852 as a bird's-eye view of Freiburg as it expanded beyond the medieval city limits. Presumably close in time, Lerch, who modestly saw himself as an «ordinary draughtsman» in contrast to his academically educated artist colleagues, painted the present unfinished watercolour, which provides an accurate portrait of his hometown with a focus on the old town, the emerging Wiehre and Herdern. Its topographically detailed depiction satisfied the need of the time, when photography was still in its early stages, for vivid images. Many art lovers are familiar with the watercolour in its central section, as it was reproduced by the Kunstsalon Straetz as an anniversary print. Lerch quoted after: Berent Schwineköper, Joseph Wilhelm Lerch (1817 - 1901) und seine Freiburger Panoramabilder, in: Schau-ins-Land, 90th Annual, 1972, p. 151.
Provenance: Kunstsalon Straetz, Freiburg i.Br., private collection Black Forest.

Condition report