Ettore Roesler Franz

[Jochen]

Dear friends of the City of Rome!

I want to present here the painter Ettore Roesler Franz. Ettore Roesler Franz (May 11, 1845 - March 26, 1907) was an Italian painter and photographer of German origin.

Roesler Franz was born in Rome. He was a specialıst in the technique of watercolor. His most famous work is a series of 120 aquarelles (water colors) named "Roma sparita" (disappeared Rome), where he portrayed with great realism parts of the city which he supposed were going to be destroyed in the effort to modernize it. Many of his aquarelles are now at the Museo di Roma in Trastevere at Piazza Sant’Egidio (Wikipedia)

He died in Rome in 1907.

I have seen his aquarelles first in 1972 and was excited from the same moment. Here I show you 4 postcards with his paintings.

(1) Santa Sabina
(2) Via dei Cappellari
(3) Via del Campanile in Borgo
(4) Via di Ponte Rotto

If you are one of the lucky men to be in Rome doen't hesitate to visit the Museo di Roma for Ettore Franz Roesler's aquarelles.

Best regards

[Molinari]

Amazing.  I could never paint with watercolor, it is so unforgiving! 

Thanks for posting, Jochen!

Nick

[cliff_marsland]

They're very warm and charming - when artists were artists.

I enjoyed the scenes very much.  Thanks for sharing them!  Any pictures of what the same sites look like today?

The sites are somewhat decrepit, but in a charming way.  Speaking of that, I was recently watching the 1971 version of "Get Carter", and several scenes were of really neat rowhouses, stuffed into an alley - probably gone now.   Even the slums had character in old Europe.

[Jochen]

I found a pic of the Via del Campanile in Borgo on the web. The church is S. Maria in Traspontina and looks still very similar. The Borgo is situated between Citta del Vaticano and Castel S. Angelo.

Best regards

[Jochen]

Another aquarelle from Roesler Franz: The Piazza Barberini with the famous Fontana del Tritone.  Today one of the traffic junctions of Rome. What a difference!

Best regards

[gallienus1]

Jochen, thank you for posting some the beautiful works of Ettore Roesler Franz. I had not known about him, but I am on the look out for more reproductions of his work from now on. There is a short Wiki entry for him that has his portrait by the Futurist painter Giacomo Balla-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Roesler_Franz

I would like to add an artist I discovered several years ago in the book Pompeii, printed in 1910 by Macmillan and written by W. M. Mackenzie. His name was Alberto Pisa and he was a contemporary of Franz. The short Wiki article for Alberto Pisa is-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Pisa

Best Regards,
Steve

[Jochen]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

Another Italian painter from this time whom I admire is Ippolito Caffi (1809-1866). The 1st postcard shows the Monte Pincio with the 2 towers of Santa Trinita dei Monti where the Spanish Steps are ending. From Monte Pincio you have the most famous view when the sun sets behind St. Peter.
The 2nd postcard shows the small round temple of Vesta which actually seems to be the temple of Hercules Victor. In the background the wonderful Basilica di Santa Maria Cosmedin with the Bocca della Verita.

Best6 regards

[gallienus1]

Thanks Jochen, timeless paintings which give the viewer a wonderful sense of calm contemplation. The harmonious use of colour and skilled perspective make Ippolito Caffi another artist that needs to be better known by the general art lover today. It seems the wealthy art collector is well aware of him however, his work 'veduta di piazza navona, roma' sold at Sotheby's Milan in 2007 for $2,116,925!

Another artist I would like to mention is W. Russell Flint (1880 –1969) a Scottish artist and illustrator who worked in oils, tempera, and printmaking but was best known for his water-colours. He is most remembered today for his impressionist paintings of women. He illustrated books on myths and history from the Edwardian period, most notably The Heroes by Charles Kingsley. When illustrating Greek myths he often rendered his figures after the style of Greek black figure pottery.

Best Regards,
Steve

[Jochen]

Beautiful, indeed!

Jochen