Osteria near Rome

Details

Bühler/Krückl 539.

Literatur:
Hans-Peter Bühler und Albrecht Krückl, Heinrich Bürkel, mit Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, München 1989, S. 288, Kat.-Nr. 539, mit Abb.

Provenienz:
Sophie Cohen (1881–1933), Frankfurt;
Emilie (Mimi) Borchardt–Cohen (1877–1948) (Ehefrau von Ludwig Borchardt), Wien und Basel, 1933 durch Erbschaft von ihrer Schwester Sophie Cohen;
Fischer, Luzern, Auktion, 22.10.1941, Los 1171, von obiger eingeliefert. (Den Erlös spendete Mimi Borchardt-Cohen an die Borchardt–Cohen Stiftung, Schweiz);
Neumeister, München, Auktion, 18.3.1992, Los 492;
Privatsammlung, Süddeutschland.

Description

Heinrich Bürkel travelled to Italy a total of four times, where, like many other German artists, he devoted himself to depicting rural life in addition to studying the landscape. After his last stay in Italy in 1853, he produced several paintings in Munich in close succession until 1860, which are set in front of osterias and taverns and offer a view of the silhouette of Rome. At the centre of this version is the lively hustle and bustle in front of a wine bar, as advertised on the sign above the entrance (“Spaccio di vino a minuto”). In front of it, three horsemen are waiting for a free space, ready to stop and quench their thirst with a drink. Several farmers are sitting in the shade of a thatched roof, socialising. The padrone is already hurrying out of the inn with a full carafe of red wine, scaring up dogs and chickens that anecdotally enliven the scene. In the centre ground, a shepherd and his herd of cattle, kicking up dust, are heading towards the gates of Rome. The dome of St Peter’s appears in the haze in the distance.

We would like to thank Anna Rubin from the Holocaust Claims Processing Office in New York for her research and information about the Borchardt-Cohen family.
According to this information, Ludwig Borchardt died in 1938 and his only heir was his wife Mimi. She sold the artwork to Fischer Lucerne in 1941 in favour of one of her charitable foundations. She herself was not a beneficiary of this sale. Even the Holocaust Claims Processing Office was unable to establish a sale “under duress” after explicit enquiry.