A moonlit night to dream about

It is a mystical atmosphere: delicately illuminated by the moon, the view of the famous landscape of houses on the island of Capri is painted. The town stands out gently against the dark mountains, with a small stretch of sea in the background on the right. People can be seen on the roof terrace: Below them on the left is a musician with a guitar and a tambourine. There are empty chairs on the right. Perhaps he was playing music with others before, but now almost all the listeners have left.

Italy as a place of longing has attracted many artists, including Oswald Achenbach. However, Achenbach does not paint the typical "touristy" Capri, but a mysterious moonlit night on the island. Although it may appear so, this is not a real topographical landscape, but rather a composite of various studies in the studio. Achenbach perfected painting popular views in different variations - these sold well and so he had less work to do.

"The alpha and omega of landscape". This is what Oswald Achenbach was called together with his brother Andreas. Both brothers were famous painters at the time, who sold very well and whose paintings were, so to speak, exactly to the public's taste. In order to better distinguish themselves from each other, it was agreed in a kind of market division that Oswald would only paint Italian landscapes from 1850 onwards, while his brother specialized in seascapes and harbour pieces, such as those in our collection.