91 - Caspar WOLF (1735–1783/98), attributed to

Caspar WOLF (1735–1783/98), attributed to A “Grand Tour” traveler and his servant in the Bernese Alps Oil on panel, inventory number in India ink on the reverse: No. 550, and traces of words in graphite: “Schultz” or “Schulz”? 20 x 26.5 cm Caspar Wolf (Muri 1735–Heidelberg 1783) was one of the first artists to travel through and paint the Alps, between 1774 and 1779. Although he painted other subjects, it is as a painter of the Alps that he has gone down in history. Numerous highly characteristic details allow us to attribute this small painting to the pioneer of Alpine painting: the two figures who bring this scene to life—likely a traveler discovering the Alps and his servant taking a brief rest to lighten the load of his backpack, the two dead, spindly fir trees—a recurring motif in Wolf’s landscapes—the way the stream’s current is brought to life, the rocks, the fir trees in the background, etc.—everything here is reminiscent of Caspar Wolf, etc. In his catalog, Willy Raeber (*Caspar Wolf: Sein Leben und sein Werk, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Schweizer Malerei des 18. Jahrhunderts*, 1979, 380 pages, Prestel-Verlag) has cataloged several of Wolf’s oil paintings on wood panels featuring landscapes comparable to ours (see photos). These works date from the 1760s and also from the years when Wolf lived in Solothurn (1777–79). In particular, there are two small oil paintings on wood panels that are very similar to ours. These works (black-and-white photos) belonged to Professor Edgar Bonjour (Bern 1898–Basel 1991).