(Vienna 1793–1875) View of the Castel San Zeno near Merano, c. 1845, signed To. Ender, oil on canvas, 92.6 x 118.5 cm, framed, (Rei)

Provenance:
Alfred Eisler to 1937;
his widow Valerie Eisler to 1941;
Nazi appropriation by means of a loan agreement with the Joanneum Graz which was later converted into a non-gratuitous arrangement;
1953 restitution settlement with the legal heirs of Valerie Eisler, the painting remained at the Joanneum as a “quid pro quo”;
January 2012 restitution to the legal heirs of Valerie Eisler by the provincial government of Styria.

Catalogued in:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, Vol. I.1, p. 284, no. 47.

Thomas Ender 
studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna from 1806-1813 together with his twin brother Johann Nepomuk. He initially studied historical painting before attending the landscape class with Lorenz Janscha and Joseph Mößmer. Ender often wandered through Vienna and its surroundings with like-minded friends, producing his own nature studies and developing his characteristic watercolour style during those years. In 1815 he received a stipend which enabled him to embark on a 5-month journey to study in the mountains around Salzburg and in Tyrol. The landscape watercolours painted during this period awakened the interest of Fürst Metternich who, alongside Archduke Johann and Emperor Francis I, was a patron of Ender's. From March 1817 to August 1818 Ender accompanied the Austrian expedition to Brazil, bringing back with him over 700 drawings and watercolours for the Emperor made during his year there. Other journeys followed and both Italy and the Austrian Alps - Styria, Salzburg, North and South Tyrol to Lake Garda - became his, and his patrons', preferred motifs. Journeys to the south of Russia and the Orient are also recorded.

As the painting here illustrates, Thomas Ender made a name for himself as an artist not only on the basis of the watercolours and sketches completed during his many journeys. His reputation was equally owed to his works in oil. The painting fascinates with its great technical dexterity, a precision of detail as well as the skilful use of plays of light. The observer's eye is drawn from the Castel San Zeno, which crowns the steep rockface at the entrance to the Passeier Valley, to the vines on the slope, down to the Passer itself and then on upstream into the depth of the painting. Sunny patches of light alternate with areas of shadow over the water, and the fresh colours enable the observer to sense the coolness of the water.

The origin of the castle lying high above the gorge in the Passeier Valley dates back to the late Roman period. It served the Romans as an effective location for guarding trade routes. During the Middle Ages a chapel was built to honour St Zeno. This served as a place of pilgrimage for a long time, lending the castle its name. In the 13th century Meinhard II extended the buildings. The Castel San Zeno was later a residence of the Tyrolean counts and is now privately owned.

Provenance:
Alfred Eisler to 1937; his widow Valerie Eisler to 1941; Nazi appropriation by means of a loan agreement with the Joanneum Graz which was later converted into a non-gratuitous arrangement; 1953 restitution settlement with the legal heir