An exceptional late 19th-century oil on canvas by German painter, Carl Gustav Rodde (1830-1906). It captures the atmosphere of a lazy Summer’s day as the light begins to diminish while several villagers rest by a river.

Rodde specialised in picturesque landscapes that celebrated an idealised vision of rural life. He adored the countryside and often chose to depict scenic views with the sun at its most dramatic.

In this scene, the light is gently falling across a haystack-covered field and some distant hills. While in the foreground, a copse provides some shade for the families that live nearby. If you look closely, you’ll see a lady picking flowers by the river and holding a posy. A father and son walk alongside her with the young boy dressed in a hand-me-down shirt.

Carl Gustav Rodde studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Johann Wilhelm Schirmer and Hans Fredrik Gude. He’s known to have painted in the rural areas around Weimar, Danzig, Düsseldorf and Berlin and also spent time in Italy where he met his wife in 1860.

The painting is signed/dated in the lower left and housed within beautiful gilt and gesso frame with foliate ornamentation.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 34½” x 26½” / 88cm x 67cm
Year of creation: 1889
Provenance: Germany
Condition: Very presentable overall. Areas of craquelure but the paint layer is stable. Minor restorations. Canvas relined. Frame with age-related wear.
Artist’s auction highlight: £7,761 achieved for ‘Ansicht von Danzig’ in 2005. This particular painting reached £1,590 at auction in 1994.