Completed British 19th C, except portraits, Continental European after 1800 32 Could this work be by Georg Anton Rasmussen?

NML_WARG_WAG_6029
Topic: Subject or sitter

This painting depicts a Fjord in Norway – on the right is a church very similar in style to the Urnes Stave Church on the Lustrafjorden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urnes_Stave_Church). The painting may be by Georg Anton Rasmussen (1842–1914) or an artist working in a similar style.

PCF comment: We are looking to add a more appropriate Group for this discussion.

Tim Williams, Entry reviewed by Art UK

Completed, Outcome

Jade Audrey King,

Group Leaders have recommended this painting is attributed to Johannes Bertholomus Duntze (1823–1895).

National Museums Liverpool unfortunately does not have the curatorial capacity to look into this at present, but the collection have put the information on file for future research.

The artwork's Art UK page will appear in line with the collection records with regards to this recommendation. We will update the record as soon as the collection are able to give a response. Any visitors to this artwork's page on Art UK will see a link to this discussion.

Thank you to all for participating in this discussion. To those viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all comments that led to this conclusion.

31 comments

Martin Hopkinson,

It does indeed look like a painting by Rasmussen . A few Norwegian painters exhibited in the Liverpool Autumn Exhibitions from 1871 onwards. A research project is about to start relating to the exhibits in these shows , concentrating first on the years 1871 to 1879, funded by the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art. So it may be Rasmussen and even this picture might be found

Martin Hopkinson,

There was a Norwegian Consul and a Norwegian church in Liverpool in the second half of the nineteenth century, and presumably a Norwegian business community, which might explain the presence of this painting on Merseyside. It is likely that this painting was registered at the Walker Art Gallery in 1964, when quite a number of works, for which no previous information as to the provenance, artist and subject were first recorded [information from Dr Timothy Stevens, former Director of the Walker Art Gallery]. Mary Bennett was the curator responsible for recording paintings presumed to be British at the time. Some of these paintings were of some quality. It was Mary, for instance, who discovered the previously unrecognised view of Holyrood Chapel by Louis Daguerre and thanks to her the art historical world was first introduced to this important work as being painted by him.
No paintings by Rasmussen were exhibited at the Liverpool Autumn Exhibitions between 1871 and 1879, but it could be later , and I have yet to look at catalogues for later years

Tim Williams,

The below Fjordland scene by Normann was gifted to the Walker by R. Rathbone in 1891 and is the only Fjord subject recorded in the 1906 published catalogue of the collection.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/a-norwegian-fjord-98454

R. Rathbone I'm assuming must have been related to the great philanthropist of the Walker, Philip Henry Rathbone. Certainly Philip actively sought out foreign paintings for the gallery see ('Philip Henry Rathbone and the purchase of contemporary foreign paintings for the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool', Walker Art Gallery Liverpool Annual Report and Bulletin, vol. 6, 1975-76, pp. 58-80). Owning one Fjordland painting by a contemporary Norwegian artist doesn't necessarily equate to owning two or more, but it's one theory of how it might have ended up with the gallery!

I would put money on Normann and Rasmussen being exhibited together somewhere in the UK during this period though, so there's an outside chance of tracing the gallery/exhibition Rathbone purchased the Normann from and perhaps finding some Rasmussen's listed.

Maybe the collection could search the accession registers for a second Fjordland scene?

Is anyone with Norwegian topographical knowledge able to identify an exact location? It might help us if we can give the painting a more accurate title.

I note with interest that there was a Norwegian art exhibition organised by the Norwegian Minister and the curator of Brighton Museum and Art Gallery at Brighton, spring 1913. The exhibition went on to Burnley in July-September the same year (which is presumably how the Towneley acquired their Normann):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/near-gudvangen-on-the-sogne-fjord

Tim Williams,

I'm being careless - Burnley has two Normann's, both of which were donated in the 1920s - though if they weren't purchased from the 1913 exhibition by their respective owners I would be very surprised!

Also, the Grundy in Blackpool has a Rasmussen! Incorrectly catalogued on YourPaintings but the correct information is on NIRP/NICE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/hardanger-fjord-norway

http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=86966&sos=2

It was donated by Sir Lindsay Parkinson J.P. in 1926 and is seemingly the only other Rasmussen in UK public ownership.

I've never been to the North, but I would imagine Burnley, Blackpool and Liverpool are close enough that the idea the pictures came from the same exhibition (Burnley, 1913) isn't too out there! And according to this newspaper clipping, the exhibition also went to Oldham and Wolverhampton:

http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/WAGMU_Z806_70_2/

Martin Hopkinson,

The Normann in Liverpool was presented by R R Rathbone. It is discussed by Edward Morris in Edward Morris and Martin Hopkinson, Walker Art Gallery. Foreign Schools Catalogue, Liverpool, 1977, p. 148.
There is a possibility that the Walker's picture was exhibited at Exchange Buildings, Liverpool 'Exhibition of High Class Paintings', 1890 as no 78A. A painting of a similar composition is in Leeds City Art Gallery. One of these two might be 'Sogne Fjord', exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1885 no 93 and reviewed in The Art Journal , p.226
I will ask Edward about R Rathbone - it was a large family.

Martin Hopkinson,

Contemporary Norwegian paintings were
exhibited at the Continental Gallery in London, and earlier by Gambart and Wallis. I will check the NAL's copies of the Continental Gallery's catalogues later this week, as well as of the Brighton and Wolverhampton 1913 exhibitions to which Tim has drawn attention. It does not have the Burnley catalogue, copies of which must surely survive at Towneley Hall and elsewhere

Tim Williams,

Thanks Martin - before you go to the trouble though, I think I'm now changing my mind on the attribution and going for Johannes Bartholomäus Duntze rather than Rasmussen.... what do you think? Rasmussen just seems to have an edge more quality to his pictures.

http://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Johannes-Bartholomaus-Duntze/769C87FBA0EA9B2D/Artworks

Interestingly this Duntze is at the Williamson and was possibly sold by Grindley & Palmer of Liverpool.....

http://www.vads.ac.uk/flarge.php?uid=83177

Martin Hopkinson,

No paintings by Rasmussen or Duntze in the 1913 exhibition

Martin Hopkinson,

1. Richard Reynolds Rathbone [1820 -98] of Tod, Rathbone & Co., a firm with Egyptian interests [Cairo and Alexandria] , is probably the RR Rathbone mentioned above [according to Edward Morris] . He was High Sherriff in 1885 and retired to Anglesey
2. Rasmussen does not seem to have exhibited at the Continental Gallery, where Adelsteen Normann, was a very frequent exhibitor of paintings of Norwegian fjords . He was considered as a French artist for much of the time

Martin Hopkinson,

No paintings by Duntze in the Continental Gallery exhibitions either

Martin Hopkinson,

There is a 1997 monograph on Cooper by Jane Renouf which was published in Grasmere. His style is not like this picture

Tim Williams,

I'm pretty settled on Dunze now - he uses the same foreground composition in many of his works, and I've found three fjord landscapes within a few centimeters in size of this picture.

One Dunze was lent to an exhibition in Dundee in 1873 by a Mr W.G. Thomson - I can't imagine it is this picture though as the light isn't golden (see attached newspaper clipping).

1 attachment
Tim Williams,

I'm pretty settled on Dunze now - he uses the same foreground composition in many of his works, and I've found three fjord landscapes within a few centimeters in size of this picture.

One Dunze was lent to an exhibition in Dundee in 1873 by a Mr W.G. Thomson - I can't imagine it is this picture though as the light isn't golden (see attached newspaper clipping).

Martin Hopkinson,

I think that Tim is right - this picture does seem closer in style to Duntze than Rasmussen, if one compares their treatment both of water and of figures. Rasmussen certainly seems to have been a better painter. In the New Year I will look through the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition catalogues. The painting could well be later than the latest date assigned to it in the Walker Art Gallery

Martin Hopkinson,

Helmut Brenske's book on the works of Duntze [Werksverzeichnis] published by the author himself in Hanover in 2008 seems not to be held in any major British library , nor in the German National Library, the Munich art historical library, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Getty, the Bibliotheque Nationale etc. So we are dependent on art historians based in Germany to help us out. Brenske died a few years ago.

Martin Hopkinson,

It appears that he painted pictures of the Norwegian fjords between 1840 [when he was only 16/17] and 1895, the year of his death - and that most of these were of different parts of Sognefjord, of Lustrafjord is an arm

Martin Hopkinson,

Duntze's name is not present in the catalogues of the Liverpool Autumn Exhibitions held by the National Art Gallery. However, the library's run is not totally complete, nor does it have copies of the Liverpool Spring Exhibition catalogues [of the early 1890s], but the staff of the Walker could probably check these.

We have received a comment back from our contact Frode Haverkamp, Senior Curator at The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo. He offers the following (based on the Rasmussen suggestion at the early point in this discussion): "Your question is rather a tricky one. I do not think Rasmussen could have done this, and the Urnes Church is something totally different from what we see here. This might be the key for the interpretation: Perhaps the painter has never seen a stave church or ever been to Norway. Trees and mountains may easily have been adopted from elsewhere."

Walker Art Gallery curators

I am glad Frode Havercamp has rejected Rasmussen, as I had felt he was too adventurous an artist in lighting and painterly style to have been the author of this painting. Tim Williams must be nearer the mark with Johannes Bertholomus Duntze (1823–1895), whose Alpine and Norwegian landscapes are more conventional and as Tim and Martin agree are closer in composition to this. The Walker curators could pop across the Mersey and look at the Williamson's Duntze for an easy comparsion. I would be happy to formally propose an attribution to Duntze unless there are strong objections.

I agree and would be happy to endorse this recommendation. The attribution to Duntze is far more convincing than either Rasmussen or Normann. Might it be worth emailing Frode Haverkamp once again with this suggestion?

Martin Hopkinson,

It seems possible that this is one of the two paintings of Sognefjord exhibited at the Glasgow of Fine Arts from Dusseldorf
1866 no 377 priced at £55
1867 no 19 priced at £30

Martin Hopkinson,

I should have said that the artist was recorded in vol 1 of Roger Billcliffe, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1990, p. 395 as F Duntze

Tim Williams,

Good find Martin - that does seem to fit quite well. I wonder if there are any exhibition labels or numbers that might 'tie-in' verso?

The awkwardness of the church expressed by Mr Haverkamp lends credence to a painter who isn't a native of Norway - if Duntze was working from sketches he made on an excursion, he's probably going to pay more attention to the landscape than the buildings. In fact the scene is possibly semi-invented - the most prominent peak looks very similar to one seen in the background of photographs of Balestrand but from a different perspective.

Andrea Kollmann,

I found these two examples of landscapes by Duntze, showing the same landscape but with fundamental differences:
http://www.van-ham.com/datenbank-archiv/datenbank/johannes-bartholomaeus-duntze/partie-vom-toelsterwasser-am-sondfjord-am-ufer-fischende-angler-vor-einer-holzhuette.html
http://www.van-ham.com/datenbank-archiv/datenbank/johannes-bartholomaeus-duntze/zwei-gemaelde-25.html
I also checked some German publications, and though I found no reference to the painting under discussion, the following sources might be interesting for further comparisons: Duntze lived in Norway for a while in 1846/1847 and visited the country repeatedly in his lifetime. Examples of his sketches of Norwegian landscapes etc are in the Norsk Folkemuseum (http://digitaltmuseum.no/search?query=duntze ) .
The first sketch resembles the church shown in the painting.
In 1847, he travelled with August Moritz, author of the “Diary of the journeys in Norway in the years 1847 and 1851 … (Tagebuch der Reisen in Norwegen in den Jahren 1847 und 1851 …)” and provided some of the illustrations for this book. The illustrations were digitalized by the British Library (http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/tags/sysnum002551844 )
Moritz writes that these illustrations were made by Duntze and a painter called A. Losting. In his diary, Moritz also recalls that when they first met in Bergen, Duntze had already lived in Norway for a year but still could not speak Norwegian properly. He praises Duntze’s talent and that he “truly reflects the character of the landscapes”. A short biography and a list of 46 of his works were collected by Friedrich von Boetticher in 1891, but there is no reference to any of his paintings exhibited in England. Helmut Brenske’s book is also unavailable in Austrian libraries.
All of the Duntze’s works available online and in sale catalogues seem are signed (mostly in the lower right corner), a high-res picture of this painting would be certainly be useful.

Short biography (in German): https://archive.org/stream/malerwerkedesne00boetgoog#page/n253/mode/1up
The diary/Tagebuch: https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_dXVBAAAAYAAJ#page/n5/mode/2up

Martin Hopkinson,

Duntze's exhibits in Liverpool included

1862 LSFA 629 Norwegian fjord
1863 221 Fiord of Sogne - Norway
1864 LIFA 750 Landscape in Norway
1865 LA 474 Sognefiord in Norway

Martin Hopkinson,

It should be added that there are other stave churches on Sogne Fjord than the famous Urnes church. Presumably there are publications on these distinctly Norwegian buildings illustrated with photographs and prints which might help to identify this one

Martin Hopkinson,

'Mount landscape 1' in the National Museum of Wales might also be by Duntze

Jade Audrey King,

National Museums Liverpool say they are now in receipt of all the information and will assess it in due course, owing to their work on other projects.

Thanks for your contributions so far.

As the group leaders Francis Fowle and I agreed to recommend an attribution to Johannes Bertholomus Duntze (1823–1895) a year ago, and the collection has received the information, can we close this now?

Jade Audrey King,

The collection have been reminded about this recommendation.

It is better to have a response prior to closing in case the collection have anything further to add. Art UK records also need to be updated in line with collection records.