Oswald Achenbach

Oswald Achenbach (1827-1905) was a German painter long associated with the city of Dusseldorf and its academy. Oswald's older brother Andreas was also painter, but they came from an unlikely family to produce two successful artists. They had eight brothers and sisters and their father was a wandering artisan who at various times worked as a brewer, vinegar maker, bookkeeper, and cook.  (Plaza of St. Peters by Full Moon, 1880)

Oswald entered the Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf at the age of eight, even though the academy supposedly only took pupils over 12. Perhaps his older brother's successful career at the school persuaded the professors to give his little brother a try. (Castle San Angelo, Rome)

After that there is nothing remarkable about Achenbach's career: graduated from the academy, traveled to Italy, started to sell paintings, became in (1860) a professor himself. (Procession to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracaeli, Rome)

I suppose he must have spent much of his later life in Italy, because just about all the paintings I have found are of Italian scenes. (Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, 1886)

His favorite places were Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. (Marketplace in Amalfi, 1876)

I find these delightful. (Arch of Titus, Rome, 1880)

And the best part is I can't recall ever hearing of Achenbach until today. I love discovering new artists. (In the Park of the Villa Borghese, 1886)

Fireworks in Naples, 1875.

Via Appia with the tomb of the Caecilia Metella, 1886