Lot 144: Gustaf-Wilhelm Palm (Swedish, 1810-1890)

The Cascades at Tivoli
signed, inscribed and dated 'G.W. Tivoli 4 October 1844' (lower left)
oil on board
16 x 24 3/4 in. (40.6 x 62.9 cm.)
Painted in 1844

Stockholm, The Swedish General Art Association, Exhibition in memory of Palm, Søderlund, Hellquist and C. S. Flodman, 1891.
Paris, Exposition de l'art suédois ancien et moderne, 1929, no. 167.

G. Lindgren, G.W. Palm, Ph. D. dissertation, 1933, p. 129, no. 107 (illustrated).
R. Hoppe, Katalog over Thorsten Laurins Samling av Malen och Sculpture, Stockholm, 1936, p. 93, no. 191 (illustrated pl. 111).

Collection of the artist and by descent to the artist's son.
Thorsten Laurins, Stockholm by 1936.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF JOHN R. GAINES

For any artist, a trip to Italy would not be complete without an extended stay in Tivoli, for the enchanting hillside town east of Rome had been luring painters since the 17th Century. Apart from its well preserved Roman ruins - the Temple of Vesta and the Villa of Maecenas - Tivoli is more famously known as the home of the Villa d'Este. Set atop the hillside and commanding spectacular views of the Roman plain, the complex was built in the 1550s as a pleasure palace for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, the son of Lucretia Borgia.

Gustave Palm figured among one of the earliest group of Swedes to venture from his native country to Italy. This delightful work is a testament to his personal dialogue with his open air surroundings. While the dazzlings fountains and terraced gardens of the Villa d'Este were the main tourist attraction - for artists, the most mesmerizing element of Tivoli was the thunderous cascades that dropped from a height of over one hundred meters to the countryside below. Palm's view facing north was the most preferred among artists as it offered uninhibited views of the falls. The Villa of Maecenas is seen in the distant background where the cascades continue. In order to accomodate a canvas of this size, Palm must have set up an easel at the edge of the cliff. The artist's bold use of color and attention to the play of light on the hillside lends a further monumentality to this piece.