Lot 85: In the Park of the Villa d'Este

Feddersen Hans Peter Westerschnatebüll 1848 - Kleiseerkoog 1941 In the Park of the Villa d'Este Oil/canvas/cardboard, 63 x 51 cm, sign. a. dat. lo. ri. H.-P. Feddersen Weihnacht 77 as well as dedicated 's/l Mutter' a.inscribed. 'Kleiseerkoog', min. craquelure. - After his studies Feddersen travelled for some months to Italy in 1877. Although he developed only few compositions from the sketches, his italian sojourn is a most important turning point of his career, because it encouraged his inclination to light colouring. He was most impressed by Tivoli: there "are the most beautiful cypresses of Italy. Next Winter I will probably use the park sketches for some paintings." The work at hand, dated christmas 1877, is one of these. The upright oblong dimensions underline the verticality of the cypresses, the herms a. the fountain, the silvery white of which is equilibrated by the lady with parasol on the left side of the painting. - Lit.: Boetticher, Thieme-Becker, Bénézit, Martius/Stubbe 'Der Maler H.P.F.' (1966), Bieske 'H.P.F.' (1998), Schulte-Wülwer 'Sehnsucht nach Arkadien'.