1191 - ZÜND, ROBERT

ZÜND, ROBERT 1827 Lucerne–1909 Lucerne Title: Shore Scenery at Lake Lucerne near Meggen. Date: 1859. Technique: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 36 x 51 cm. Notation: Signed and dated lower left: Robert Zünd 1859. Reverse: Old number label on the stretcher. Frame: Framed. This painting is registered at the Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich, under no. 82835. In 1882, the Swiss author Gottfried Keller described one of his compatriot Robert Zünd’s works as an “ideale Reallandschaft oder reale Ideallandschaft” (“ideal real landscape or real ideal landscape”). This description also applies to the present atmospheric landscape, which depicts the shore of Lake Lucerne in summer. Across the barren, grassy shore—with a rock at the viewer’s eye level—the viewer’s gaze is guided along the shoreline into the depth of the scene. On the right is the calm water’s surface; on the left, the land, with a tall group of trees in the middle ground. This marks the beginning of the shoreline’s woodland, which extends far into the depth of the image. The serene scene is enlivened by a herd of cows and goats, accompanied by a shepherdess on the riverside path. A young white goat playfully rests its front legs on a low fence and gazes out toward the lake. There it spots a fisherman, rather in the foreground, at the right edge, who lets his feet dangle casually over the side of the boat while holding his fishing rod. This painting, signed and dated 1859, is quintessentially characteristic of Robert Zünd’s work; he remains one of Switzerland’s most popular 19th-century artists to this day. Raised in a middle-class family in Lucerne, Robert Zünd was initially able to develop his artistic talent under the guidance of local teachers. At the age of 21, the young painter went to Geneva, where he initially studied under François Diday and later under Diday’s student Alexandre Calame, who was already one of the leading European landscape painters of the late Romantic period at that time. On trips to Paris, Munich, and Dresden, Robert Zünd studied and copied the old masters at local museums, furthering his education. During this time, he met his compatriot of the same age, Rudolf Koller, with whom he would form a lifelong friendship and artistic partnership. Unlike his teacher Calame, Robert Zünd was not interested in the heroically exaggerated Alpine high-mountain landscape; he found his idyllic, light-drenched motifs in the surroundings of his hometown, Lucerne. Drawings and oil studies that he created en plein air were composed by the artist as idealized landscapes in his studio and were highly sought after by the Swiss bourgeoisie. Robert Zünd was a loner, both as a person and as an artist, who worked to create a distinctive body of Swiss landscape painting outside the artistic movements of his time. In his later years, Robert Zünd—who had never attended any academic art institution—received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. Today, his works can be found in significant public and private art collections. Provenance: - Private collection, Germany. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transport is available only through a shipping company following consultation after the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros For a total invoice amount exceeding 25,000 euros: 1.8 per thousand Shipping to the U.S. by individual arrangement after the auction. #Robert Zünd #Munich School #Switzerland #19th/20th C. #River #Animals #Paintings.