FREY, JOHANN JACOB

Basel 1813–1865 Frascati

Born in Basel, Johann Jakob Frey, son of the painter Samuel Frey, came into contact with painting at an early age and was particularly attuned to the tradition of landscape painting. After a stay in Paris, Frey had the opportunity to make his first trip to Rome in 1835 through the Basel patroness Emilie Linder.
Contrary to expectations, Frey did not join the German Nazarenes in Italy, but followed, rather, the landscape tradition of Claude Lorrain (1600–1682) and Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665). Artistically, Frey was guided above all by Carl Rottmann (1797–1850), with whom he was also in personal contact. In search of classical landscape motifs, Frey travelled to the area around Rome together with other artists including Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839), Johann Christian Reinhardt (1761–1847) and Johann Martin von Rohden (1778–1868). The Roman Campagna, the Sabine and Alban Hills and, last but not least, Olevano, were particularly popular destinations for artists. Surrounded by such rich scenery, Frey painted a wide variety of landscape motifs, preferring to do so on paper, thus following the tradition of open-air painting of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796–1875). Frey then transformed these direct studies of nature and figures into meticulously executed, topographical landscape depictions in his studio, which were commissioned by connoisseurs such as William IV of Prussia and Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Frey is one of the typical exponents of the classicist landscape style of the 19th century. In his nature studies in particular, but also in his late artistic work, his interest in precise depictions of nature became increasingly evident.
In addition to his large-format and often idealised landscape paintings, Frey was particularly interested in extreme natural phenomena such as thunderstorms and sought to depict them with almost scientific accuracy.

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Works by this artist from our auctions

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