(Krems 1739 – 1823 Vienna) Romantic landscape with a shepherd and his flock near a lake, signed at lower left Wutky; Romantic river landscape with a mule driver and shepherds and their flock, signed at lower right Wutky, pendants, oil on cardboard on panel, 13.5 x 34 cm, framed

The Krems-born painter took up his studies at the Vienna Academy under Martin van Meytens in 1759 and became a member of the Academy in 1770. Initially active as a history painter, he later on limited himself exclusively to landscape painting. Between 1776 and 1801 he lived in Rome, from where he made frequent excursions to Naples. In 1805 he went to Italy a second time. Wutky gained significance among his contemporaries during his stay in Naples between 1772 and 1775. During that period Mount Vesuvius was particularly active, and Wutky seized the opportunity of painting impressive pictures of eruptions and resulting lava flows. Accompanied by the English natural scientist William Hamilton, he even risked approaching the crater during volcanic outbreaks. The studies he made in situ were for a long time considered the most accurate scientific illustrations of volcanism. Working as a teacher at the Vienna Academy later on, Wutky enjoyed a reputation as a painter of impressive Italian prospects and nocturnal scenes and was considered a rival of Philipp Hackert. He was particularly well known for his depictions of the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. His painting style led from Baroque drama to ideal landscape art. He died in Vienna in 1823. These two brilliant paintings undoubtedly date from the artist’s early period in Vienna. Paintings by Wutky are preserved in the Academy of Fine Arts and the Liechtenstein Collection in Vienna, as well as in Prague, in the Casino Borghese in Rome, and in major European museums and collections.