Collection: Art prints by Josef Rebell

Josef Rebell was an Austrian painter of the early 19th century who is best known for his Mediterranean coastal landscapes and seascapes. He received his artistic training at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and found his true artistic home early on in Italy, where he moved as a young man and where he spent the majority of his life. He was decisively influenced by the classical tradition of Italianate landscape painting, in particular by the example of Claude Lorrain, whose light-flooded, harmoniously composed coastal scenes represented a lifelong ideal for Rebell.

Rebell devoted himself above all to views of the Neapolitan coast, the Gulf of Naples, the surroundings of Rome and seascapes in changing weather conditions. His pictures often show vast expanses of water under a bright southern sky, rocky coasts and small fishing boats bathed in delicate reflections of light. He paid particular attention to the phenomena of light at different times of day and evening, the reflection of the sun on the water and the hazy atmosphere of the Mezzogiorno, which he captured with great sensitivity and painterly confidence.

Stylistically, Rebell's works are characterized by a classically balanced composition, a bright, warm colour palette and careful, atmospheric execution. He combined the ideal landscape tradition of the 17th century with a direct observation of nature, which lends his paintings a fresh, lively quality despite their classical formal language. Figures and staffage are always present in his landscapes, but take a back seat to the vastness of the sea and the luminosity of the southern light.

Josef Rebell enjoyed a high reputation during his lifetime and was appointed director of the imperial picture gallery in the Belvedere in 1824 through the mediation of the Viennese court, a position that impressively testifies to his esteem at the Austrian imperial court. Today, he is considered an important representative of Austrian Romanticism and Classicist landscape painting, whose works continue to be valued in museums and the art trade for their light-filled atmosphere, compositional elegance and fine coloristic qualities.