Landscape with painter, 1833

Set pieces like the fence in the foreground and landscape insets in oblique view give the watercolor Landscape with Painter by Jakob Gauermann (1773–1843) a certain spatial depth. The painter in the middle ground is depicted in a back view, offering himself as an identification figure for the viewers, who now become themselves observers of nature. It is the romantic concept of man becoming one with nature that is symbolized here. Gauermann created a synthesis of his preferred themes in art, genre and veduta painting, in this watercolor. Breaking away from the idealizing Baroque landscape tradition, he tried to give a realistic picture of nature. Originally trained as a stonemason, Gauermann had studied painting at the Hohe Carlsschule in Stuttgart. He undertook numerous journeys, which also led him to documentary depictions of Alpine regions as a chamber painter to Archduke John of Austria (1782–1859). Gauermann was the teacher of his son Friedrich Gauermann (1807–1862).

AGW, 2021