August 29, 2020

One of the joys of being in business for generations is having the chance to re-offer works we have sold in the past. We are pleased to present a wonderful collection which was assembled carefully many years ago, which includes marine and landscape paintings as well as a superb regulator clock. Included in the collection is a stunning seascape of the famous Danish steam frigate Sjaelland by the renowned Danish marine artist Vilhelm Melbye, which once hung in the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Ray, California. The collection also includes a rare landscape by Alexander Loemans, best known for his expansive historical vistas depicting North American subjects in the Hudson River School style, on occasion with First Nations figures hunting or at camp. We hope that you appreciate this fine collection as much as we have enjoyed welcoming it back into the gallery.

Stay safe and healthy. We hope that you are keeping your spirits up and that you will visit the gallery or website to find comfort in engaging with art and antiques.

The Langmann Team

Vilhelm Melbye (Danish 1824-1882)
Steam Frigate 'Sjaelland' In High Seas

This stunning work by renowned Danish marine artist Vilhelm Melbye depicts the famous steam frigate Sjaelland, known for its part in the naval battle of Jasmund during the Second Schleswig War on March 17, 1864. She was the middle of three sister ships, the Niels Juel, Sjaelland, and Jylland which were sail and screw propelled steam frigates as well as sailing ships, the world’s largest wooden war ships. Fregatten Jylland is preserved today as a museum in Ebeltoft, Denmark and considered a national treasure.

Vilhelm Melbye is one of Denmark’s most celebrated marine artists, the middle and best known of the three artistic brothers Anton, Vilhelm and Fritz. Vilhelm’s early work produced in Copenhagen before travelling abroad consists mainly of views around the city harbours and the surrounding fishing villages, and he was one of the first artists to paint the coastal area of Skagen at the northern tip of Jutland which has become the most artistically important area of Denmark. He preferred a realistic style, often depicting romantic or dramatic scenes.

Studying at the Danish Royal Academy in Copenhagen from 1844 to 1847, Vilhelm took lessons under his elder brother Anton as well as private classes in perspective drawing from the marine artist Carl Dahl. He travelled extensively abroad travelling to London, Dusseldorf, Paris, the Netherlands and throughout the Mediterranean, and was influenced by the Dusseldorf School. He lived and worked in London where he anglicized his signature to ‘Wilhelm Melby’ and there are numerous depictions of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean from this time. He exhibited regularly at the Danish Royal Academy, becoming a Professor and head of the Academy in 1880. 

Vilhelm Melbye’s romantic and realistic style is successful at offering dramatic depictions of shipwrecks and adventures at sea. Examples of his work can be found in public and private collections internationally, including the National Gallery of Canada… read more

Alexander Loemans (Canadian/American 1818-1898)
Encampment on the Columbia River Below Mt Hood

Alexander Loemans was born in the Netherlands and received his artistic training in France before immigrating to North America in approximately 1880. Painting in the Hudson River School style, his works show the influence of Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church. He painted expansive vistas including the Andes Mountains in South America as well as North American subjects in the Rocky Mountains, Wisconsin and the Sierra Nevada. Occasionally he painted portraits and would sometimes include figures, in particular First Nations either at work or in camp, in his landscapes. Today his works are found in many public collections including the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, The National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Museum of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg, and many others… read more

Jose Weiss (British 1859-1919)

Jose Weiss was born to English parents in Paris and originally worked in the wine business, a job that required travel from France to England regularly. Little is known of the formal training that Weiss received except from that of the well known French Barbizon School landscape painter Henri-Joseph Harpignies. He spent his youth sketching and painting, and his training in Barbizon techniques had a profound and continued influence on his work that is evident in his depictions of the Sussex landscape. He exhibited regularly at the British Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists, as well as in Paris Exhibitions. He was a celebrated landscape painter during his lifetime, his work being particularly popular with American audiences. He is represented in collections and private institutions in Canada, The United States, South America, Africa and throughout the United Kingdom. Interestingly, Jose Weiss is also remembered as a great pioneer of aviation and a glider enthusiast... read more

Fredericus Van Rossum Du Chattel (Dutch 1856-1917)
Nightfall

This oil on panel bears two 1915 labels - the first collection label reads “Nightfall. At the edge of a canal, the water of which is lit by the rays of the setting sun, is a farm and a hay barn, surrounded by tall trees. On a small plank a country woman is busy washing clothes. Shaded gray sky where the last rays of the sun light up the edges of the thick clouds. Signed.” The second label reads, “de Hofstad 2 Octb. 1915 - Van Duchattel here is a nice landscape with which he made his name at the time; a much more beautiful specimen than the Suasso museum has." The Suasso Museum opened 14 September 1895 in what is currently part of the Stedelijk Museum, and was founded by the Dutch collector Sophia Adriana Lopez Suasso-de Bruyn (1816 – 1890). She collected miniatures and local artists, supporting modern artists who did not fit into the Rijksmuseum such as Vincent Van Gogh.

William Lionel Wyllie studied at the British Royal Academy under the well known artists Edwin Landseer, John Everett Millais and Frederic Leighton. He was an avid sailor, and from the early 1870’s worked as an illustrator of marine subjects. Over the course of several sailing cruises he laid the foundations for a lifelong love of the sea and of maritime subjects. He exhibited prolifically with paintings and etchings and was a member of the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, the Grosvenor Gallery, the New English Art Club, the Society of British Artists, the Dowdeswell Galleries and the Fine Art Society… read more

John James Audubon (French/American 1785-1851)
Soft-Haired Squirrel, Hare Squirrel and
Migratory Squirrel

Three lithographs from the Quadruped of North America, Octavio Edition, circa 1849-1851 'P1. XIX Soft-Haired Squirrel', 'P1. XLIII Hare Squirrel' and 'P1 XXXV Migratory Squirrel'

Best known for his devotion to painting and writing about the birds and mammals of America, John James Audobon travelled widely throughout the North American wilderness in search of specimens. He soon developed his trademark style, using naturalistic composition and enhanced watercolour application using different media to express textures. The results of his study and artistic work were embodied in The Birds of America, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, and Ornithological Biographies… read more