EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Brief Description of item

Joseph Anton Koch (1768-1839) The Schmadribach Waterfall near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (recto); A faint sketch of a mountainous landscape (verso) Black chalk, pen and black ink, lightly squared in black chalk, indented for transfer, 44.3 x 35.8cm (17 ½ x 14 1/8 in.) Probably dated 1793 The drawing is un-faded and in good condition for a work of its date and technique. [Fig. 1]

2. Context

Collection of Brian Sewell (1931-2015); his sale, Christies, King Street, London, 27 September 2016, lot 60 (estimate £20,000-30,000); sold @ £68,750. Unpublished and un-exhibited. The principal bibliographic references to related versions are: Otto R. von Lutterotti, Joseph Anton Koch 1768-1839: Leben und Werk, Vienna and Munich 1985, pp.158, 159, 286 (G 16), 296-7 (G 53), 316 (Z63), 351 (Z1068). Christian von Holst, Joseph Anton Koch 1768-1839: Ansichten der Natur, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart 1989, pp.144-147, 229-231, cat. nos. 26, 27, 121.

3. Waverley criteria

Joseph Anton Koch was a major Romantic artist. He was especially popular with British collectors in his lifetime, but only two of his watercolours and four drawings remain in UK public collections: at Glasgow, Liverpool and Oxford.

This recently discovered sheet is apparently the first study, probably made directly from the motif, for his most celebrated composition, The Schmadribach Waterfall near Lauterbrunnen. There are two later oil versions of this composition, in Leipzig and Munich, a watercolour in Basel, and a sepia drawing in Lübeck..

This drawing is of outstanding significance for the study of Romantic landscape art and Swiss scenery. DETAILED CASE

1. Detailed description of item(s) if more than in Executive summary, and any comments.

What does it depict?

The Schmadribach waterfall is one of the most impressive of the numerous cascades in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Oberland, famed for its spectacular scenery. The waterfall is here depicted from the north, between the Grosshorn and the Lautenbrunner Breithorn.

What does it tell us about that period?

Koch subscribed to Neo-classical principles, but also embraced the newly fashionable medievalism, while his interest in the natural sciences and Romantic philosophy suggests an increasingly modern world-view.

The Schmadribach Waterfall depicts two natural processes: erosion, where the torrent tumbles over the cliff; and the water cycle itself, from cloud to snow to river. Koch thus illustrates contemporary theories of the role of mountains as agents of natural change and regeneration. He was also familiar with Immanuel Kant’s theory of the ‘mathematical Sublime’ (1790), caused by sights too boundlessness for the imagination to grasp. In these terms, Koch’s Schmadribach Waterfall invites the eye both to measure and be overwhelmed by the vastness of nature.

Koch’s rival criticized the inclusiveness of his vision, while others lauded its truth to nature. The poet , who promoted the nationalist cult of medievalism in Germany praised his work for its ‘Germanness’.

Who painted it?

Joseph Anton Koch was one of the most important Romantic landscape artists, and pioneered the ‘heroic’ landscape style. Born in the Tyrol, he studied at Stuttgart (1785–91) but rebelled against conventional artistic training. He spent the years 1791-4 travelling and sketching scenery in Switzerland, where he met the English clergyman and literary editor Dr George Nott (1767–1841), who paid him a stipend to study in Italy. At in 1795 he attracted the patronage of the great collector Frederick Augustus Hervey, Earl of Bristol and bishop of Derry (1730-1803), who pioneered the rediscovery of fifteenth century ‘primitives’. Koch became a leading member of the colony of northern artists in Rome, and boasted in 1812 that his popularity with British patrons was sufficient for him to set up practice in England. He spent the years 1812-15 in Vienna before returning to Rome, where he was influential on the Nazarenes and may have met JMW Turner in 1819. At the end of his life, he also sold drawings to the friend of John Ruskin, Henry Acland. By defining form with greater detail and correctness, and rejecting traditional scenery for mountainous views, Koch reinvigorated the classical landscape tradition.

2. Detailed explanation of the outstanding significance of the item.

This is the preparatory study, probably made in 1793 directly from the motif, for J.A. Koch’s most celebrated composition, The Schmadribach Waterfall near Lauterbrunnen.

Based on this study, which is squared off and indented for transfer, Koch made two works on paper of similar size and two larger oil paintings:

1. Watercolour (c.1793/4), 48.8 x 40.6cm; Basel, Kunstmuseum, inv. 1942.135. (Lutterotti 1985, Z63; Holst 1989, cat. no. 26) [Fig. 2] 2. Brown wash drawing with a foreground group of ‘The Judgement of Paris’ (c.1794), 48.8 x 35.7; Christies, 17 March 1983, lot 85; Hildegard Fritz-Denneville, London by 1985; Collection Christian Dräger, Lübeck (Lutterotti 1985 Z1068; Holst 1989, cat. no. 27) [Fig. 3] 3. Oil on canvas (1805/11), 123 x 93.5 cm; Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künst, inv. 121 (Lutterotti 1985 G 16; Holst 1989, cat. no. 121) [Fig. 4] 4. Oil on canvas (1821/22), 131.8 x 110 cm; Munich, Neue Pinakothek, inv. WAF 449 (Lutterotti 1985 G 53) [Fig. 5]

Koch’s Schmadribach Waterfall fundamentally revised the previously accepted norms of landscape. Seemingly inspired by Albrecht Altdorfer’s Battle of Alexander (1529, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), he envisaged a panoramic ‘world landscape’ embodying the entirety of nature’s system as well as man’s place within it. Koch’s interpretation of Alpine scenery was more influential on the next generation of artists than the formulations of C.D. Friedrich or J.M.W. Turner. For example, Ludwig Richter (1803-84) paid direct homage to The Schmadribach Waterfall in his The Watzmann (1824, Munich, Neue Pinakothek) [Fig. 6]

Koch’s work was popular with British collectors and his landscape vision prefigures the analytical detail of English Pre-Raphaelite paintings, such as John Brett’s Val d’Aosta (1858, collection of Lord Lloyd Webber). [Fig. 7]

Significance of figures associated with the item(s): maker/client/owners?

The provenance of this drawing is unknown prior to its ownership by the well- known art critic Brian Sewell (1931-2015).

Significance of subject-matter?

The Schmadribach waterfall had become a tourist destination by 1776, when it was described by Archdeacon William Coxe (1748-1828):

‘The hollows between these mountains were filled with a large body of ice, broken into the greatest variety of shapes imaginable: and several torrents (of which the Schmadribrunnen is the most considerable) bursting from the snow, and uniting in their course, form the…river which flows through the vale of Lauterbrunnen…The whole scenery was exceedingly magnificent; and exhibited a most curious and singular picture…’

Lauterbrunnen similarly impressed J.W. von Goethe and , who recalled his 1790 visit in The Prelude (book 6). It was also visited by JMW Turner in 1802, in 1816, and John Ruskin in 1833.

Significance of materials/process/usage?

The present work is typical of the highly precise studies Koch made for compositions, using black chalk and heightening the contours in black ink. This one was then indented and squared off for transfer, first to the watercolour and wash versions, and subsequently the oil versions.

Is the item of national importance?

This drawing is of national importance as the preparatory study for the most celebrated landscape of a leading Romantic painter, and an important early view of Swiss scenery, so highly regarded by British artists from JMW Turner to Stanley Spencer. In his lifetime, Koch was especially popular with British collectors, but few of his works now remain in the United Kingdom.

Summary of related items in public/private ownership in the UK

There are no oil paintings by J.A. Koch in the United Kingdom. None of the seven Koch drawings in UK public collections are related to the Schmadribach Waterfall:

1. Macbeth and the three witches (1798), watercolour, 70 x 105.5 cm; Glasgow, Hunterian Art Gallery. (Lutterotti 1985, Z1054) 2. Landscape with William Tell (1799), watercolour, 73.7 x 111.5 cm; Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery. (Lutterotti 1985, Z8781) 3. Nathos and Darthula (c.1805), sepia, 71.8 x 104.1 cm; English Heritage, Walmer Castle, Kent. 4. Civitella (c.1820), pen and black ink, 23.2 x 35.7 cm; Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, inv. WA1954.70.116. (Lutterotti 1985, Z115) 5. The Via Mala, with the Devil’s bridge (c.1793-4), graphite, pen and brown ink, 23.8 x 18.7 cm; Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, inv. WA1954.70.113. (Lutterotti 1985, Z112) 6. The baths of Titus, with Santa Maria Maggiore (c.1805-10), graphite, 24.3 x 34.2 cm; Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, inv. WA1954.70.114. (Lutterotti 1985, Z114) 7. The Via S. Vitale in Rome with S. Domenico & Sisto and San Vitale (1810), graphite, 19 x 26.5 cm; Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, inv. WA1954.70.115. (Lutterotti 1985, Z113)