3262
Huber, Jakob Wilhelm
1787 Düsseldorf - 1871 Zurich.
View to Ischia on the Gulf of Baiae. Vagabond with pack mules in front of Roman ruins near Pozzuoli.
Oil on canvas. Signed lower middle, dated «Neapolis 1821.» and inscribed «fecit». Verso handwritten annotation of former owner «Baron Kniestedt». Verso on the stretcher on a label dated by a different hand «Neapolis 1821.», inscribed «W. Huber» and erroneously «Seelandschaft Sizilien (sea landscape Sicily)».
H 40, W 52,5 cm (support). Elaborate frame.
The idyllic realms of Campania, especially the enchanting views of the coasts around Naples, accompanied by picturesque ruins and staffage figures, were among the most popular subjects of the international painting circles based in the Gulf metropolis. Although Jakob Wilhelm Huber dated the present work with a reference to Naples, it was probably painted in Zurich, as the artist fled in a hurry from the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which was beset by revolutionary unrest, to his hometown Zurich in 1820. Although he planned to return to Italy, he remained in Switzerland throughout his life and continued to create oil paintings based on drawings depicting landscapes of his beloved adopted homeland.
Authentication: We would like to thank Dr. Nico Zachmann, expert for Swiss painters of Italy, Basel, for the authentication via E-Mail, based on photos, 16.09.2021.
Provenance: probably collection Baron Friedrich Julius von Kniestedt (1765 - 1825), German judge and landowner.

Condition report