Wuttke – Pottery in Tunis

Carl Wuttke
(1849 Trebnitz – 1927 Munich)

POTTERY IN TUNIS

1896
Oil on canvas
28 x 40 cm
Signed and dated: C. Wuttke, Tunis 1896, titled on wooden panel on the reverse

With travel becoming easier thanks to fixed itineraries and better means of transport, more and more private individuals set off to see the world towards the end of the 19th century. As they were not yet able to buy postcards or point a camera at the subject themselves, artists who were also travelling had a wonderful market to sell their work. One of these ‘travel painters’ was the landscape painter and globetrotter Carl Wuttke, who otherwise travelled in China, Japan, Egypt, the USA, etc.

What makes his courtyard in Tunis particularly appealing and the painting compatible with our classicist range is the architecture depicted: the Doric and Corinthian columns are spolia, i.e. relics from ancient buildings or temples that were used as building materials.