Johann Jakob Frey signed J. J. Frey Small Landscape oil painting on Canvas Painting circa 1850
Johann Frey signed Small Landscape oil on Canvas Painting. provenance: Bonhams Knightsbridge. Born in Basel in 1813, Johann Frey worked in Paris and Munich before settling in Rome in 1835. Frey began his career as a traditional landscape artist, painting around the Roman campagna and Naples in a gently Romantic style common to many of his northern European contemporaries. Italy and in particular the city of Rome was for the Basel painter Johann Jakob Frey second home. From Rome he undertook numerous journeys and expeditions in cooperation with renowned researchers and archaeologists. So he traveled to the south of Italy, but also the North of Africa. He kept his impressive experience firmly on paintings, which aroused great interest among contemporary collectors and what the artist sold directly from his Roman atelier out. Frey is regarded as an independent representative of the late Romantic landscape painting and his paintings are now witnesses of those days untouched natural scenery.
Notes from consignor: The painting from my ancestor Friedrich Gruber. He came from a merchant family from Lindau, Germany. In the early 19th century he established his own trade company in Genoa, Italy. He and his family resided in the Palazzo Gruber in Genoa (still existing, but not family owned anymore). In 1845 he built a large villa for his family, called Lindenhof, as a summer residence. As part of the war reparation in 1918 the Gruber family had to surrender Palazzo Gruber to the Italien government. However, the family was able to retain most of the palazzo’s furnishings, which were moved to the Lindenhof estate. Due to the financial decline of the Gruber family, Lindenhof was sold to the City of Lindau. Subsequently the furnishings were divided up among the family members. Among other items, my mother received the Johann Jakob Frey painting as well as the Herman van Swanevelt painting. Unfortunately I do not have any written or any other documentation to confirm the history of the paintings.
14.5" x 11"

good condition, commensurate with age