Bidspirit auction | Johann Jakob Frey: The Roman

Johann Jakob Frey: The Roman Campagna with Sheperds in front of the Ruins of the Aqueduct - FREY , JOHANN JAKOB 1813 Basel–1865 Frascati Title: The Roman Campagna with Sheperds in front of the Ruins of the Aqueduct. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 58 x 89.5cm. Notation: Signed lower right: J.J. Frey. Rom. Frame: Framed. The Basel-born painter Johann Jakob Frey found a second home in Rome in 1835, at the age of twenty-two. Having been largely trained by his father, the graphic artist Samuel Frey, and the history painter Hieronymus Hess, he arrived in the ”Eternal City” via brief periods of further study in Paris and Munich, with the help of a patron. There he quickly became one of the most respected foreign landscape painters. His participation in the Prussian expedition to Egypt in 1842 cemented his status as a star, satisfying the demand for exotic and Roman landscapes even among the most high-ranking social circles. On numerous journeys, Frey produced masterful sketches from life that appear very loose and immediate. Large paintings produced later in the studio, by contrast, display a finer, smoother application of paint. His stylistic affinity with Josef Anton Koch, with whom he was also friends, is clear. Even today, Johann Jakob Frey’s late Romantic landscapes in the collections of leading European and American museums convey the harmony of ancient monuments set against a natural backdrop that was largely untouched at the time. The vast plain, with the Albanian mountains rising in the distance, is abruptly interrupted by ancient vestiges of human civilisation. Goats and cattle, tended by a shepherd, are resting here near a small body of water. A little further away, a flock of sheep is approaching. The scene is imbued with the calm, harmonious atmosphere of a late summer’s afternoon. With this painting, Johann Jakob Frey demonstrates once again his magnificent ability to guide the viewer’s eye from the brilliant clarity of the foreground – so characteristic of his style – into the misty depths of the plain. The water at the bottom of the picture reflects the light of the high sky and serves as a compositionally successful complement to the motif. Provenance: - For several generations in private ownership, Germany, originally Estonia resp. St. Petersburg. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: The lot is unsuitable for parcel shipping. Transport only by shipping company after consultation following the auction. additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Johann Jakob Frey #Romantic-realistic school #Switzerland #19th C. #Painting #Italy #Paintings.