FREY, JOHANN JAKOB1813 Basel - 1865 Frascati


Title: View Along the Bay at Nettuno.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 28.5 x 40cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: "J.J. Frey fe".
Frame: Framed.
Verso:
Old inscription on the stretcher: "Nettuno gegen das Cap Circello / Cap der Kirke" as well as an old, descriptive adhesive note on the canvas.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Johann Jakob Frey, born in Basel and celebrated today especially for his impressive landscape paintings, was the son of the Swiss etcher Samuel Frey, with whom Johann also initially received his training. Formative for his oeuvre was the Grand Tour, an educational trip reserved for the European nobility of the 18th century. The Roman Campagna, the Albanian and Sabine mountains were among the Swiss artist's favourite destinations and motifs.

Frey's expressive landscapes bear witness to a wide variety of influences from pioneering artists of 18th and 19th century Europe. On the one hand, he followed the academic ideal of landscape painting and is thus closely associated with Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. On the other hand, he oriented himself towards the French Barbizon school, which had devoted itself to open-air painting. The result of these diverse influences is a meticulous elaboration of atmospheric, contemplative and topographical landscapes, such as in the present painting. Frey allows us a sweeping view of the bay of Nettuno, which seems to run into infinity. We see villagers going about their daily tasks and having friendly conversations with each other. Through the refined composition, the artist creates a contemplative moment of a joyful and distant place where life seems simple.