Franz Kobell
Coastal Landscape with Storm
1819
Physical Qualities
Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash over graphite, Sheet: 162 x 213 mm. (6 3/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Philip B. Perlman
Object Number
1936.147.16
Landscape was the mainstay of Franz Kobell, who is thought to have created more than 100,000 works over the course of his career. This drawing is one of a large series of idealized landscapes that the artist probably made in his studio. (One art historian has noted that Kobell “considered landscape a stage, with backdrops and movable set pieces.”) Using a monochromatic palette, the artist has rendered a romantic vista in which three figures are dwarfed by a wind-torn and rain-swept coastal shore, the sky momentarily brightened by a flash of lightning.
BMA, Jacobs wing rotation, July 27 - November 26, 2012.
Inscribed: RECTO: none; VERSO: at lower left, in graphite: "Franz Kobell f. 1819.-"
Markings: None
