Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Claude-Joseph Vernet (Avignon, 1714 - Paris, 1789)
workshop of
The Storm on the Lighthouse
1750/60
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 48 x 67 cm / framed 77 x 93 cm
We share a highly pleasing work, a splendid marine executed by a talented painter from the workshop of the Frenchman Claude-Joseph Vernet, depicting a coastal view set in a Mediterranean port with the sea still stormy.
The focal point of the composition is the large lighthouse at the entrance to the port, which, due to the power of the sea, was unable to bring to safety the ship that had crashed against the rocks, while the silhouette of a second sailing ship can be glimpsed in the distance.
The canvas shows in full the pictorial, chromatic and narrative characteristics of the great master Vernet's coastal landscapes, characterised by the inimitable atmospheric conditions always hovering between darkness and light, storm and calm, instilling the observer with contrasting feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant and highly contrasting colours.
A similar composition, from which our author must necessarily have drawn, also attributed to the workshop of Claude Joseph Vernet is to be found in France, in Nantes, at the Musée d'Arts.
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The effects of the light create a visual drama in the contrast between the darkness of the rain-laden storm clouds and the gash of clear sky that is opening up, pierced by the timid rays of light. The real magic of the painting is the painter's highly personal use of light and colour, with chiaroscuro effects that accentuate its three-dimensionality and movement.?
The compositional typology, as well as the quality of execution and attention to detail we are dealing with, are typical elements of the 'prototypes' conceived by the master, later taken up around the middle of the 18th century by his best pupils.
Similar versions can be found in the most important international museums and private collections, belonging to a large series of paintings that the master created, together with his collaborators, during his stay in Italy.
Vernet lived in Rome for twenty years (1734 - 1753), becoming particularly popular with English aristocrats who stopped there on their Grand Tour. International fame followed him from Rome to France, and to his English and French clients he added German princes and Russian nobles.
The painting is in good condition with a beautiful carved and gilded wooden frame.
Delevery information :
We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
We take great care We personally take care of the packaging, to which we devote a great deal of care: each work is carefully packed, first with arti- cle material, then with a custom-made wooden box.
Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
