Objekt 3
Two ruins landscapes
Description
The two large paintings of ruined landscapes were made by the renowned French landscape painter
Landscape painter Hubert Robert in Paris. One view shows a lake landscape with ruinous fountain architecture, an obelisk and a figural staffage in the foreground. On the base of the fountain figure the painter has signed his work "H.ROBER(T)". The other work presents the ruin of a Roman vaulted building with several naves, the rooms of which are partially flooded with water. Robert's ruined landscapes reflect the newly awakened interest in the buildings of Roman antiquity. These ideal landscapes are examples of the representational and educational aspirations of wealthy Basel families of the Ancien Régime, who collected contemporary paintings from the metropolis of Paris to decorate their city palaces. The Basel silk ribbon manufacturer Achilles Weiss-Ochs (1725-1792) ordered them for his city residence, the "Württembergerhof". The mediator was the Basel engraver and art dealer Christian von Mechel (1737-1817).
Object description
Painter: Hubert Robert (1733-1808)
Oil painting on canvas; Louis XVI frame, decorated with leaf and pearl bar: Wood, old gilded
Paris, circa 1770
Gift Novartis International AG / Sandoz AG, Basel
1950.467.a.-b.