Čís. položky 113 -


Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder


Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder - Obrazy starých mistrů I

(Haina 1722–1789 Kassel)
Calypso bids Odysseus farewell,
oil on panel, 27.5 x 23.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France

We are grateful to Petra Tiegel-Hertfelder for confirming the authenticity of the present painting. A written certificate is available.

Tiegel-Hertfelder writes: ‘This scene is taken from antique mythology. It shows how an elderly sunburnt man with his hair turned grey and a full beard holds a girl with blond curls in his arms. She intimately reaches out for his hand, while her own left hand affectionately rests on his thigh. Through this hermetic composition, Tischbein has emphasised the harmonious relationship of the unmatched couple of Odysseus and Calypso. Odysseus has withdrawn to the edge of a grotto, alluded to by the reed on the left. The small work is alive with vivid contrasts of colour: the hero’s athletic upper body and the pale complexion of the nymph. Odysseus wears a billowing dark-brown cloth around his loins chromatically blending in with the background. His legs are covered with bright red underclothes, a tone discreetly reflected in his blushing cheeks. Calypso’s delicate bluish green dress flatters the tone of her skin, as do the pearls on the wavy light-blue band in her hair. With her right hand, Calypso hesitantly points to the side where the cosy grotto opens up to its exit, where one should imagine the shore of the island Ogygia. For Odysseus, it is the way to freedom. After seven long years the gods have ordered the nymph to let her lover go. Odysseus talks to her in disbelief, as if unable to grasp what is going on.

Tischbein has distinctly captured the facial expressions and gestures of the crucial moment: the lovers are forced to say good-bye. With this picture, Tischbein proves that important scenes marking the turning point of a plot can also be shown convincingly in small format. The minute execution of the individual motifs is the result of the artist’s profound training in France and Italy, which was also recognised by his contemporaries. J. H. Tischbein repeatedly dealt with episodes from this line of mythology, as is attested to by two works referring to the Iliad, The Duel of Menelaus and Paris and Theseus Showing Achilles His New Weapons, both of which belong to the collections of the Hessian landgraves. However, the present theme cannot be found amongst the paintings and drawings or in the catalogues that have been left behind. We know that Tischbein regularly met with friends to hear from the old tales of Homer and Ovid – “[…] and scholarship by the artist’s side was a friend he could often ask for advice” (1797). The painting was in France for a long time. It could have arrived there as early as the eighteenth century, for during the Seven Years’ War, Kassel was repeatedly occupied by French troops in 1760/61. Probably Tischbein was commissioned with this work because his vivid description and colouring appealed to the taste of the French patron. In the late 1750 the painter was busy with the overdoors for Wilhelmstal Palace. They describe the adventures of Odysseus’ son Telemachus. The present painting refers to the first adventure in Homer’s Odyssey: the hero bidding farewell from the nymph Calypso.’

The present picture is enclosed by a magnificent frame reminiscent of the work of Johann Augusts Nahl (1710–1785). Tischbein and Nahl were friends, both of them professors at the Kassel Art Academy.

Expert: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43 1 515 60 403

oldmasters@dorotheum.com

08.06.2021 - 16:00

Odhadní cena:
EUR 18.000,- do EUR 22.000,-

Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder


(Haina 1722–1789 Kassel)
Calypso bids Odysseus farewell,
oil on panel, 27.5 x 23.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France

We are grateful to Petra Tiegel-Hertfelder for confirming the authenticity of the present painting. A written certificate is available.

Tiegel-Hertfelder writes: ‘This scene is taken from antique mythology. It shows how an elderly sunburnt man with his hair turned grey and a full beard holds a girl with blond curls in his arms. She intimately reaches out for his hand, while her own left hand affectionately rests on his thigh. Through this hermetic composition, Tischbein has emphasised the harmonious relationship of the unmatched couple of Odysseus and Calypso. Odysseus has withdrawn to the edge of a grotto, alluded to by the reed on the left. The small work is alive with vivid contrasts of colour: the hero’s athletic upper body and the pale complexion of the nymph. Odysseus wears a billowing dark-brown cloth around his loins chromatically blending in with the background. His legs are covered with bright red underclothes, a tone discreetly reflected in his blushing cheeks. Calypso’s delicate bluish green dress flatters the tone of her skin, as do the pearls on the wavy light-blue band in her hair. With her right hand, Calypso hesitantly points to the side where the cosy grotto opens up to its exit, where one should imagine the shore of the island Ogygia. For Odysseus, it is the way to freedom. After seven long years the gods have ordered the nymph to let her lover go. Odysseus talks to her in disbelief, as if unable to grasp what is going on.

Tischbein has distinctly captured the facial expressions and gestures of the crucial moment: the lovers are forced to say good-bye. With this picture, Tischbein proves that important scenes marking the turning point of a plot can also be shown convincingly in small format. The minute execution of the individual motifs is the result of the artist’s profound training in France and Italy, which was also recognised by his contemporaries. J. H. Tischbein repeatedly dealt with episodes from this line of mythology, as is attested to by two works referring to the Iliad, The Duel of Menelaus and Paris and Theseus Showing Achilles His New Weapons, both of which belong to the collections of the Hessian landgraves. However, the present theme cannot be found amongst the paintings and drawings or in the catalogues that have been left behind. We know that Tischbein regularly met with friends to hear from the old tales of Homer and Ovid – “[…] and scholarship by the artist’s side was a friend he could often ask for advice” (1797). The painting was in France for a long time. It could have arrived there as early as the eighteenth century, for during the Seven Years’ War, Kassel was repeatedly occupied by French troops in 1760/61. Probably Tischbein was commissioned with this work because his vivid description and colouring appealed to the taste of the French patron. In the late 1750 the painter was busy with the overdoors for Wilhelmstal Palace. They describe the adventures of Odysseus’ son Telemachus. The present painting refers to the first adventure in Homer’s Odyssey: the hero bidding farewell from the nymph Calypso.’

The present picture is enclosed by a magnificent frame reminiscent of the work of Johann Augusts Nahl (1710–1785). Tischbein and Nahl were friends, both of them professors at the Kassel Art Academy.

Expert: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43 1 515 60 403

oldmasters@dorotheum.com


Horká linka kupujících Po-Pá: 10.00 - 17.00
old.masters@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 403
Aukce: Obrazy starých mistrů I
Typ aukce: Sálová aukce s Live bidding
Datum: 08.06.2021 - 16:00
Místo konání aukce: Wien | Palais Dorotheum
Prohlídka: 29.05. - 08.06.2021