Oil Painting, 'Sketch in Italy: La Spezia', Karl Heffner, german school, 1880

An oil sketch showing a view of the port city of La Spezia.

Bequeathed by John Hill

Probably acquired directly from the artist (through Thomas Wallis?) by John Hill, of Streatham; by whom bequeathed to the museum in 1894

Historical significance: This painting is a fine example of Heffner's mature manner which became broader and sketchier under the influence of such English painters as John Turner and John Constable but also the French Realists Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau.
The colours are here applied in a thick impasto, reminiscent of Paul Cézanne's technique. It is a good example of the Realist movement that developed in the Germanic countries in the second half of the 19th century under the influence of French realism and the Barbizon school. This work was probably executed in open air, following the tradition of Realist paintings.
This work may have been painted directly for the English market as Heffner regularly supplied pictures to the English art dealer Thomas Wallis, whose business activities brought to Munich. Such pictures attracted patrons and collectors and hitherto a great extent of Heffner's oeuvre is to be found in private collections rather in public institutions. Heffner executed another of famous views from Switzerland also owns by the museum (see 866A/E-1894).

Karl Heffner (1849-1925) was born in Würzburg where he first studied music. He was a pupil of Adolf Stademann (1824-1895) and Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826-1882) in Munich. He travelled extensively in Germany, England, Italy and Holland, exhibited in Vienna and Munich between 1873 and 1883, and in the Royal Academy in London between 1880 and 1881.

Heffner was one of the greatest exponents of the Munich School of Paintings led by A. Stademan and A. G. Lier who were his masters. This painting is part of group of six famous Italian views mounted together and depicts a view of La Spezia situated between Genoa and Pisa in Liguria (Northern Italy). Because the landscape of La Spezia is dominated by the mountains falling down to the sea, this view probably refers to the inner countryside of La Spezia. Although his first trip to Italy is recorded in 1883, the present sketch is dated 1880. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. It work is a fine example of Heffner's mature manner, which became broader and sketchier over the years.

867B-1894