690 - Heinrich Rasch, Women, Men and Children at the Harbour of Sottomarina (an island on the southern edge of the Venetian Lagoon), oil painting in its original gilded stucco frame

Heinrich Rasch, Women, Men and Children at the Harbour of Sottomarina (an island on the southern edge of the Venetian Lagoon), oil painting in its original gilded stucco frame Heinrich Rasch, 1840 Norburg - 1913 Coburg, a German painter born in Denmark; here: Three women in the foreground and a man with three children on the shore of the harbour at Sottomarina. A boat carrying a woman and a man approaches from the sea; oil on canvas, 50 x 70 cm, signed and inscribed on the right Sottomarina - Munich, in a gold frameAbout the artist: In 1866, Heinrich Rasch became a pupil for a short time in Hamburg of the Danish marine painter Anton Melbye (1818-1875). In the same year, and until 1869, he continued his studies in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe under Hans Gude (1825-1903). In 1870 he moved to Munich and, in 1872, became a pupil of Arthur von Ramberg.(1819-1875) at the Academy of Fine Arts there; in 1875, he founded the Ekensund Artists’ Colony together with other artists. In 1878, Heinrich Rasch went to Paris for a length of time, turned his hand to figure painting and produced a series of Salon paintings that sold well. From the mid-1880s onwards, Rasch returned to landscape and seascape painting, which he enhanced with anecdotal figurative elements. In 1884, the art critic Adolf Rosenberg ranked him at the forefront of the younger talents in the Munich art scene. In 1891, the Munich Art Association organised an exhibition of his works comprising 220 numbered pieces, a larger selection of which was subsequently shown at the Kiel Kunsthalle. From 1902 to 1907, Rasch served as a delegate for the Schleswig-Holstein Art Cooperative at the exhibitions held in Munich’s Glaspalast. His connection to Sottomarina (a well-known district and beach area of Chioggia on the Venetian Lagoon) stems from a series of works that Rasch created during his travels in Italy. Whilst he frequently captured the bustling activity on the Dutch coast during the summer, he was drawn to Venice and the surrounding lagoon for southern European impressions. There, on the shores of Sottomarina and Chioggia, he found typical motifs that suited his style perfectly: fishermen and boats. Much like on the North Sea, he was fascinated by the traditional fishing boats (such as the bragozzi) and the everyday life of the local fishermen in the Venetian Lagoon. Light and atmosphere: his Impressionist-influenced painting style captured the distinctive, hazy light and the soft colour tones over the waters of the lagoon.