Link only available on sub pages

The children playing with the dogs in the foreground could be little cherubs in a work by Leonardo da Vinci. A loving mother is standing to the right. Behind her, there is a figure on horseback and, to the far left, a family group. With this idealised Roman landscape, Hans von Marées found a style of composition to express his idea of the harmony of human relations in unspoilt nature. In terms of the nineteenth century, this work can also be read as positing an alternative to the alienation associated with the growth of industrialisation. Admittedly, though, the composition seems rather stilted.

When Hans von Marées painted this work in Italy in 1868, his development as an artist was just gaining momentum. At that time, some artists started working plein air – painting out of doors to capture nature directly. But Marées turned inwards in his search for perfection, seeking forms to express the spiritual ideal of a harmonious life. Supported by art theorist Conrad Fiedler, a generous and selfless patron, Marées continued his path to artistic perfection, creating art purely for art’s sake. On this journey, Marées faced constant mental struggles, tormenting himself in his attempts to meet his own high aspirations – and always finding he had failed.

Hans von Marées was regarded as difficult and uncompromising. When he moved to Dresden from 1872 to 1873, Conrad Fiedler built him a house with a studio. There Marées painted portraits of Conrad Fiedler’s family members – with his patron hoping to establish him in Dresden as a portraitist. Marées, though, had other ideas. Soon he received his first and only major commission – decorating the library of a biological research institute in Naples. It was not the worst reason for him to leave Dresden again.