Franz Richard Unterberger

Franz Richard Unterberger painted the sunlit coasts and waterways of Italy with crisp detail and bright, clear colour. Venice, the Amalfi coast, Capri and the Bay of Naples were favourite subjects, often with boats, harbour life and warm stone buildings against deep blue water.

He was born in Innsbruck and studied at the academies of Munich, Weimar and Düsseldorf, where Andreas Achenbach encouraged him to paint outdoors. Early trips took him to Norway and Denmark and along the coasts of England and Scotland. In 1864 he settled in Brussels, but he travelled south again and again to Venice, southern Italy and Sicily, and these Mediterranean views became his best known work. He exhibited in Vienna and in the United States, including at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.

Look at how carefully he handles reflections on water and the strong southern light on walls.