Johann Alexander Thiele (1685 – 1752) belongs to the most important German painters of the 18th century and is regarded as the “father of Saxon landscape painting”. His works that were created in the residence city of Dresden depict the Elbe river valley with Dresden’s surroundings (the Plauensche Grund, for instance), just as views from the Erzgebirge mountains , from Oybin, a town in the mountain range of the Zittauer Gebirge or from Naumburg, a town situated in the Saale river valley.
A painting such as “Blick nach Dresden von der Hoflößnitz” (View to Dresden from the Hoflössnitz estate) with its grand view of the Elbe river valley can be traced back to nature studies, which the painter created on site with his pencil on paper. The painting, however, was executed in the studio and was composed under the rules of art: The foreground is painted in dark brown colours. Here, a courtly party camp in front of the vineyards of the Lössnitz, on which wine makers harvest the crop. On each side tall deciduous trees arise across the entire height of the canvas and herewith form an oval frame, which directs the observer’s view into the depth. A visual highlight is the so-called Spitzhaus that is situated on the hill on the left side of the painting and is lying in the morning sun. In the rather green middle ground, the river Elbe meanders in the direction of Dresden that can be detected on the horizon with its bridge Augustusbrücke, the royal palace’s towers and the churches Frauenkirche and Kreuzkirche.
At the New Castle in Bad Muskau, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden present a selection of landscape paintings by Johann Alexander Thiele, among them is the “Blick nach Dresden”. These prospects – recognizable images of a certain region – are enriched by true fantasy landscapes, which the painter mostly executed in a small scale.
in Residenzschloss
