Ansicht von Mannheim, Schloss und Rhein
nicht ausgestellt
Intro
Carl Kuntz places us on the left bank of the Rhine—before the founding of the city of Ludwigshafen—and opens up a panoramic view of the river and of Mannheim, the city of his birth. The rear of Mannheim Palace is bathed in bright sunlight, and behind it can be seen the observatory and the town hall tower. The city itself looks peaceful and modestly proportioned. The city center is still surrounded by broad fields, and none of the details betray Mannheim’s rapid development in the 1860s as an aspiring industrial center.
Instead, the painter, schooled in the classical ideal landscapes of Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, depicts a rural idyll in evening light. The cows and goats waiting at the edge of the path are another special feature in the painter’s oeuvre: his animal paintings enjoyed great popularity in the early 19th century. Kuntz himself was to rise to the office of director of the Grand Ducal Gallery in Karlsruhe. His estate has formed the basis of the Kunsthalle’s collection since 1873.
Donation Kuntz 1873