(Frankfurt am Main 1789–1872 Vienna) Scene of Castellamare on the Gulf of Naples, signed, dated J. Alt 1837, oil on canvas, 53 x 66 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 and illustrated in:
Sabine Grabner and Claudia Wöhrer (Eds..), Italien Reisen, Landschaftsbilder Österreichischer und Ungarischer Maler 1770–1850, exhibition catalogue, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, 2002, p. 231 and 233 ill. 60.

“The dark ship rises up impressively against the golden yellow, shining sky in elaborate detail. The sea’s horizon can scarcely be discerned in the mist of the distance. The reflection in the peaceful, gleaming red water underlines the monumental impression of the work. The sloping mountain ridge in the centre of the picture echos the diagonal line of the ship’s spars (mast). The warm colours in the right half of the painting contrast with the cool blue and green tones in the delicate shading at the left edge.” (Brigitte Hauptner in: Italian Reisen, Vienna 2002, p. 233.)

Jakob Alt was born in Frankfurt am Main and received his first artistic education from the portrait and miniature painter J.P.Beer. He moved to Vienna in 1810 where he studied under Friedrich August Brand and Martin von Molitor at the Vienna Academy from 1811. His first opportunity to work as an artist was with Karl Ludwig Viehbeck, who published a series of etchings Picturesque journeys through the most beautiful regions of the Alps in the Austrian Empire. Important commissions followed in the field of vedute painting. Alt received his greatest commission in 1833 from Archduke Ferdinand, who later became Emperor Ferdinand I; together with his son Rudolf, Alt created the so-called concave mirror- zograscope series for Archduke Ferdinand. This would take the father and son to distant parts of the k&k empire, and later also to Italy. They worked on the commission until 1848.
“In his early years Alt was still influenced by the academic concept of an ideal landscape and built on the tradition of views by Schütz and Ziegler in the field of vedute painting. However, he very soon achieved a more realistic and, at the same time, painterly representation of landscape.“ (Saur, Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Munich 1992, Vol. 2, p. 658.)