Hermann Carmiencke (1810-1867) Ruins of Lichtenberg castle - Tyrol Italy

Hermann CARMIENCKE
(Hamburg, 1810 – New York, 1867)
Ruins of Lichtenberg Castle, South Tyrol
Oil on canvas
H. 50 cm; W. 70.5 cm
Signed and dated lower right 1844

Exhibition: Charlottenborg Salon of 1844, under number 104
Provenance:
- Collection of the King of Denmark Christian VIII, acquired at the Salon
- GEC Gad, bookseller, acquired at auction in 1882

Initially trained in Dresden by the Norwegian landscape painter Christian Dahl, Carmiencke joined the Royal Academy of Copenhagen in 1834 with Eckersberg as his master. Naturalized Danish in 1838, a travel grant allowed him to discover Sweden (1841), Bavaria and the Tyrol (1842-1844), and Italy in 1845-1846. Appointed in 1846 as official painter to the Danish King Christian VIII, the Prussian-Danish War forced him to emigrate to America, where he settled permanently in Brooklyn. There he enjoyed great success working in the style of the Hudson River School. One of his stylistic characteristics, which can be seen in our painting, are brightly lit foregrounds that stand out against landscape backgrounds with atmospheric perspective; his brushwork is often broad and creamy.

The location depicted is near Merano, in the north of the current Italian province of Alto Adige.