Sale: 402 / Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century, May 14. 2013 in Munich Lot 645

 

645
Carl von Blaas
Die heilige Katharina von Alexandria, von Engeln zum Berg Sinai getragen, 1843.
Oil on panel
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 12,500 / $ 13,500

(incl. surcharge)
Die heilige Katharina von Alexandria, von Engeln zum Berg Sinai getragen. 1843.
Oil on panel, cradled.
Signed, inscribed and dated "Rom 1843" in gold lower right. 29,6 x 40,1 cm (11,6 x 15,7 in).

PROVENANCE: Private collection Luxemburg.

After he had had first lessons in art in Innsbruck, Carl von Blaas studied at the academy in Vienna as of 1832. As early as in his second year he won first awards for his works. From 1835 to 1837 Blaas lived in Munich, in the following he spent five years in Rome on a scholarship from the Vienna academy. This was where was soon in close contact with the Nazarenes, especially with Friedrich Overbeck. In those days Blaas predominantly painted religious motifs which clearly showed his proximity to the Nazarenes. Based in Rome, he on and off traveled to northern and southern Italy, mostly together with other painter friends. His genre paintings and portraits were popular with noble families all over Europe. Additionally, he participated in palace exhibitions as well as the restoration of the mosaics in San Marco in Venice, he also made altar painting and frescoes for churches. As of the 1850s, numerous exhibitions, awards and professorships in Venice and Vienna deliver clear prove of his success. From these days on Blaas increasingly abandoned the Nazarene School and turns to more realistic illustrations and history paintings. An example thereof is the decoration of the arsenal in Vienna on which he worked from 1859 to 1872. For this work that comprises 45 frescoes Blaas was awarded the Franz-Joseph-Medal in 1872 and received knighthood. In 1866 he got his own class for history painting at the Vienna academy.

This painting is still all in line with Nazarene style and illustrates the history of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, as it is described in Legenda Aurea: After a martyrs death by decapitation, angels carry the saint’s body to Mount Sinai and bury her. This theme was quite popular with the Nazarenes and was also used by, among others, Heinrich Mücke (1806-1891) and Henri Lehmann (1814-1882) in 1836 and 1839 respectively. While in Rome Blaas examined this motif his very own way. In 1841 he made the large painting "Heilige Katharina von Engeln übers Meer nach Sinai getragen", which was bought by an American on the second day of the exhibition, making for Blaas' excellent artistic reputation in Rome. Today this work is in the Fogg Museum of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Due to the great success the artist repeated the motif several times, also in smaller formats and with slightly altered details. One of these versions was sold to the U.S. as well, another was acquired by the Hungarian count Karl Erdödy. In 1888 Blaas showed his painting of Catherine of Alexandria on the ‘Wiener Jubiläumsausstellung‘. [CB].




645
Carl von Blaas
Die heilige Katharina von Alexandria, von Engeln zum Berg Sinai getragen, 1843.
Oil on panel
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 12,500 / $ 13,500

(incl. surcharge)