Description
Type: painting
Painter: Gottfried Stähly-Rychen (* 1840, † 1920)
Object: oil painting
Material: oil on canvas
Dimensions: height: 38 cm, width: 46 cm
Manufacture year: 1891
Condition: Isolated superficial damages. One small retouched area and two small bulges. Overall very acceptable condition.
Signature: G. Stähly-Rychen. Bern 1891
Details:
This dog portrait oil painting by the Thun veduta painter Gottfried Stähly-Rychen is in the tradition of English dog portraits in oil on canvas, in which dogs were portrayed in the landscape. It is true that the dog depicted is an English Pointer. However, the landscape in this dog portrait is clearly a Swiss landscape with the snow-covered Alps in the distant background. Further ahead in the background on the left is probably Bern with its Cathedral.
This dog portrait is most likely a commissioned work by the dog’s owner, as “”Mars” born 1884″ is written in the top right corner of the painting. Gottfried Stähly-Rychen was described in his day as an “animal painter of the first rank”, as the following quote from the “Intelligenzblatt für die Stadt Bern” of February 3, 1891 proves:
“Art note. (Submitted) As has often been the case, Mr. Stähly-Rychen is currently exhibiting one of his outstanding achievements in the field of animal painting in Bern (Bärenplatz, “Spar- und Betriebsverein”), which has already earned him the name of an animal painter of the first rank abroad. We would like to draw the attention of local art and nature lovers to this excellently executed picture.” [1]
As Gottfried Stähly-Rychen is known today primarily for his landscape paintings and animal paintings by him rarely appear, this dog portrait is an important piece of evidence for the extent of Gottfried Stähly-Rychen’s work and proof of his skill in the field of animal painting.
Footnotes:
[1] Intelligenzblatt für die Stadt Bern, February 3, 1891, p. 4.
