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Italian Village

Italian Village

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Carl Johann Friedrich Adolf Rötteken

Carl Rötteken painted in the Biedermeier style. Named for a fictitious poet who was the object of a satire on the prosperous middle class, the term Biedermeier was applied to furniture and decorative objects adapted from classical models and popular throughout Europe in the 19th century. Biedermeier painters, striving for the picturesque, favored views of Italy which showed the effect of strong Italian light; their work is a compromise between idealism and realism. Italian Village shows an ideal Italian view with charming peasants, mellow buildings, and a splendid tree. The composition is balanced with the rocks in the right foreground serving as a counterweight to the mountain and town. The clear, mild colors are warmed by the sun.
Artist
Carl Johann Friedrich Adolf Rötteken
(German, 1831 - 1900)
Title
Italian Village
Date
ca. 1870s
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
40 x 62 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of Charles R. Crane
Accession No.
15.1.4
Classification
Paintings
Geography
Germany

Related

Purchased by Paul S. Reinsch (Madison, WI); by 1915, sold to Charles R. Crane (Chicago, IL); 1915, gifted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison; 1967, transferred to the Elvehjem Art Center [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Bulletin/Annual Report 1989-1991." Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1991. p. 58
  • Madison Art Association. "Collection of Paintings Owned by Paul S. Reinsch: Exhibition in the State Historical Library Building." Madison, WI: Madison Art Association, 1912. p. 10, no. 107

  • Collection of Paintings Owned by Paul S. Reinsch: The Madison Art Association, 9/26/1912–10/24/1912

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