MUNICH.- Iwan Aiwasowski truly celebrates painting by putting focus on nature and, above all, the sea. His remarkably meditative painting “Ruhige See“ will be called up in the auction of 19th Century Art at Ketterer Kunst in Munich on November 23.

Iwan Aiwasowski, who is rightly called the “Russian William Turner“, was a true master of light. His work “Ruhige See“ from 1887 shows a meditative scene that invites the observer to rest eyes and thought on. With feathery clouds in front of a blue sky in background, we see a large sailing boat on the horizon setting out onto the open sea, while workers on the shore load their oxcart in a light that suggests that the day‘s duties are coming to an end. In this moment of absolute peace and harmony, Aiwasowski shows the observer the infinity of nature with the most simple means. The estimate for this priceless moment is at € 120,000-150,000.

Another work of museum quality, and indeed on view at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin up until a few years ago, comes from Max Liebermann. His painting “Die Wochenstube – Schweinekoben“ estimated at € 60,000-80,000, shows a bunch of lively piglets at feeding time. It is kept in the artist‘s characteristic coarse duct and delivers proof of Liebermann‘s deep interest in the simple life of simple people, which he ennobled to a form of art through his paintings.

The two ladies in Edward Cucuel‘s oil painting “Schöner Herbstnachmittag“ from around 1915 linger in idleness under a tree on a meadow. The work is particularly captivating for its contrasts and the light reflections suggested by the sunlight. It might be available for an estimate price of € 50,000-70,000.

Adolph von Menzel‘s watercolor “Rousseau im Park von Versailles“ from ca. 1850/60 will enter the race with a price between € 40,000-60,000. It allows the observer a peek through an archway and makes him witness of an afternoon scene. A philosopher, who critically eyes the goings-on of a Rococo party is in its foreground. No doubt, he would surely feel more comfortable in Cucuel‘s nature scene.

Besides the humorist oil painting “Der Maler“ (estimate: € 20,000-30,000) from around 1860, Carl Spitzweg is also represented with a very atmospheric and characteristic garden idyll. Estimated at € 40,000-60,000, the “Der Zeitungsleser im Hausgarten“ in a small and intimate format surely met the contemporary taste of the emerging bourgeois at around the middle of the century.

Another artist who saw himself as a sort of chronicler of real life was Johann Moritz Rugendas. His work “Innenansicht der Kathedrale von Lima“ from around 1843 takes the observer to South America. Bright sunlight illuminates a sacred ceremony, while children play and women chat in the dark and cool back part of the cathedral. The composition, executed on the canvas in swift brushstrokes, delivers a concentrated image of the scorching sun, a shady interior architecture, solemn liturgy and a bustling life in general. The oil painting has been estimated at € 30,000-40,000.

Apart from Cornelis Springer‘s “Sommerlicher Stadtansicht“ and Oswald Achenbach‘s “Blick auf den Vesuv“ (estimate prices: € 30,000-50,000 and € 30,000-40,000 respectively) three works by Franz von Stuck (estimates of up to € 20,000) will be called up, among them two bronzes, one showing “Beethoven (thronend)“ and the other a riding “Amazone”.

Next to works by Carl Jutz the Elder (“Hühnerhof“), Alexander Koester (“Liegende Enten - Licht und Schatten“), Johann Wilhelm Preyer (“Früchtestillleben“) and Jaroslav Julius Vesin (“Fröhliche Schlittenfahrt“), each with estimates between € 20,000 and 30,000, the range of offerings is completed with works by, among others, Heinrich Bürkel, Edward Theodore Compton, Franz von Defregger, Heinrich Füger, Théodore Gérard, Karl Hagemeister, Carl Paul Jennewein, Friedrich Kallmorgen, Wilhelm Trübner, Johann Michael Wittmer, Felix Ziem and Heinrich Zügel.