‘Fabbriche di Careggine’ by Edmund John Niemann (1813-1876).

Fabbriche di Careggine is the name of a Italian ghost village that today lies beneath Vagli di Sotto, a man-made lake in Tuscany. Prior to its flooding in 1953 the village was home to a community of subsistence farmers who raised sheep and Garfagnana goats. The painting depicts one of these goatherds and a young woman riding out from the village at sunrise.

It is not uncommon for paintings by one member of famous family of artists to be mistakenly attributed to a relative; a picture by “the Elder” is erroneously credited as being by “the Younger” and the work of one brother is confused with another, and so on. In 19^th century British art, the paintings of the Williams, Herring, and Pether families spring to mind. But surely no two English artists have had their work so routinely confused as those of Edmund John Niemann and his son Edward Henry Niemann.

The paintings of the younger Niemann are perfectly competent and eternally popular but the work of the father, Edmund John Niemann is - in terms of painterly quality and artistic significance - vastly superior. Where the paintings of Edward Niemann are workmanlike, commercial, and numerous those of his infinitely more talented father are masterful, romantic, and rare. Throughout his highly successful career as one of England’s most eminent landscape painters of mid-19^th century, Edmund John Niemann was widely thought of as the heir of Turner, Wilson, and Peter de Wint.

Between 1844 and 1872, Edmund John Niemann exhibited 29 paintings at the Royal Academy, 45 at British Institution, and 40 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Today, works by Niemann Snr. can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum & Gallery, the Museum of London, and the Walker Gallery in Liverpool.

Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.

Dimensions: (framed) 60cm x 74cm (23½” x 29”).

Dimensions: (canvas only) 46cm x 61cm (18” x 24”).

Medium: Oil on canvas.

Provenance: Private collection.

Presentation: Bespoke gold metal leaf frame.

Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.