Passion for paintings #3: Wilhelm Brücke
Wilhelm Brücke by Louis Asher in 1834
I spent the afternoon in the art section of the local museum (again) and the better part of it in awe of paintings by Johann Wilhelm Brücke (1800 - 1874).
"Ansicht des Kapitols in Rom" (View of the Capitol in Rome), 1835
Brücke, originally from the North of Germany where he was born into a highly productive family in Stralsund, spent several years in Rome in the 1830s, recreating, among others, the popular motive above.
The Capitol painting in full view on display at the Landesmuseum Hannover, Germany
"The Palais of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm III in Berlin", 1841
Upon his return from Italy, Brücke settled in Berlin where he would spend the rest of his life as an architecture painter of motives such as the buildings in the vicinity of Unter den Linden. I especially like the human details of this particular work of his:
It looks like the girl hopes to sell her wares, while the two gentlemen only have eyes for other passers-by, one even making use of old-timey binoculars to get a better look.
Part boys' picnic, part street vendor?
I like the depth of the scenery, with more and more details emerging from the background the closer you look.
Brücke's 1841 Palais painting in its total perspective. I couldn't persuade Zumbusch's Flora to move out of the way, and I didn't dare to use force on a scantily dressed lady from 1860.
"View of the Neue Wache in Berlin", 1842
Another Brücke painting from the following year (1842), its angle in fact opposite from the position the artist occupied the year before. Again, there's details:
I love images that show old-fashioned common courtesy.
Everybody is wearing hats. In mid-19th century life in town, it would have been socially weird not to.
More courtesy, more hats
The Neue Wache painting seen from a distance, with Byström's "Vittoria Caldoni" bust (from 1823) standing guard.
