Coastal Landscape Near Naples 1880

Coastal Landscape Near Naples was composed using oil on canvas by the artist Oswald Achenbach. We might consider this a straightforward example of landscape painting, yet the way it's made adds depth. Achenbach skillfully renders the interplay of light and shadow, using the fluidity of oil paint to capture the Mediterranean atmosphere. The loose brushwork and the subtle gradations of color give a feeling of immediacy. What is interesting is the way the materiality of the painting— the textures and the ways of applying the paint itself— mirrors the scene's material reality. The rough textures of the buildings and the rugged landscape are evoked using impasto and broken color, while the smooth surface of the sea is conveyed with fluid brushstrokes. Achenbach was part of a Romantic movement, with a focus on nature's emotional power, and this painting offers a view that is also keenly attuned to its human presence, and to the labor required to sustain it.