(Berlin 1802–1866 Nyon)
“Tassos Haus an der Küste von Sorrent”, old title on the reverse and with old inscription “gemalt von Wilh. Schirmer in Berlin” and “Eigenthum des Geheim. Rathes Knoblauch (Halle/Saale)”, oil on canvas, 22.5 x 32 cm, framed, (Rei)

Provenance:
Collection Privy Councillor Carl Hermann Knobloch (1820-1895), Halle / Saale;
Private Collection Germany.

Compare:
August Wilhelm Ferdinand Schirmer, Torquato Tassos Haus bei Sorrent, oil on canvas, 42 x 87 cm, Nationalgalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, no. NG 4/87.

In the present lot, we can see the coast near Sorrento. The birthplace of the famous Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) towers above the sea, to the right. The poet’s turbulent life, oscillating between genius and madness, fascinated many artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and inspired Goethe to write his play Torquato Tasso.
The oeuvre of the Berlin landscape painter August Wilhelm Schirmer also includes a vista overlooking Tasso’s famous birthplace in the Gulf of Sorrento. In 1827 the young artist undertook his first trip to Italy, which led him first to Rome. Thanks to the financial support of the Prussian crown prince, Schirmer was able to travel further south to Sorrento in midsummer. As a result, the inspiration for this motif can be directly traced to the period in which the artist stayed there.
A larger version was purchased by the banker Joachim Heinrich Wilhelm Wagener, whose extensive collection of paintings formed the core of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The painting, registered with no. NG 4/87, is preserved there today.
A smaller version of the motif “Tassos Haus in Sorrent” was also shown at the Academy’s exhibition in Berlin in 1836. This version was particularly praised in the contemporary press for its bright colours and the blue and green of the water: “a picture that displays very good harmony. The tall and solidly built, almost fortified, house in front of the water, delicately executed in matte stone hues, the flat water at its feet, shimmering blue and merging into green shades, as it visibly moves away and recedes into the ground under the air, unite to form a picturesque, pleasant sight.” (Museum, Blätter für bildende Kunst, IV/44, 1836, p. 346). It could be assumed that the present lot is precisely the painting shown in Berlin, once again presented to the public.

Schirmer’s painterly skills are particularly evident in the white edge of the waves on the beach, the transparency of the water (with its nuanced colours changing from sea green to deep violet), and the light reflected on the balcony, which catches the rays of the setting sun. The magic of the picture unfolds through its combination of real experience and idealised sensation.