Description
This is potentially one of the oldest paintings we have in stock. It is an oil on canvas of a watermill beside a mountain river with the water flowing in some volume over the rocky river bed. The painting is by German artist H Kolbe. It is framed in a simple gilded hardwood frame which measures 57 x 83 cm (22.5″ x 32.5″). The painting itself measures 78 x 51 cm (30.5″ x 20″).
H. Kolbe German 19th Century
The following is an extract from a newspaper article written about this painting….
Over 200 years old and still looking good….A Genuine Antique.
Heinrich Christophe Kolbe was a late 18th century into early 19th century listed German artist of some distinction. He is famed for not only his portraiture but also his mountain scenes. The painting this week is over 200 years old and still looks as fresh as the day it was painted. It is a typical work of Kolbe…A simple mountain scene with his signature tumultuous river, the water tumbling over rocky outcrops as it thunders its way down the mountainside. In this one a watermill sits alongside the river on the right-hand bank, with the waterwheel churning away in the current of the river. A fisherman can be seen on the left bank just back and away from the watermill. This is a painting so typical of Kolbe’s work whose paintings can be found online in other galleries for up to £6,500….But NOT in my gallery. I price my paintings to sell and as such this is one of the biggest bargains in my shop! This is one of two paintings I have by the same artist and they are in matching frames.
Heinrich Christophe Kolbe was born in Dusseldorf in Germany in April of 1771. He was associated with The Dusseldorf School of Painting before moving to Paris for ten years to study in the studio and under the tutelage of the famous French artist Francois Gerard. He was also a part of the circle of Friedrich Schlagel, working with him on the review “Europa”. In 1811 he returned to Dusseldorf to concentrate on his own ambitions and became one of the foremost portrait painters of his generation, quickly becoming a favourite of the Rhineland high society, painting over 60 portraits of Elberfeld and Barmen alone! His most notable sitters were The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Goethe, Charles Augustus and Karoline Jagemann. However, Kolbe loved to paint his mountain scenes and this is one of those. From 1822 to 1832 he was a professor of The Dusseldorf Art Academy until he had a major dispute with the new director of the academy. He stepped down and concentrated on his own work again. Sadly he quickly became unwell and died in 1836 after a lengthy serious illness.
