This Neoclassical allegorical work "Pandora" was acquired in 2020 at the sale of the Stuttgart auction house Eppli, where it was attributed to the hand of prominent Dresden painter Franz Gerhard Kugelgen (1772-1820) or the artist from his circle ( with expertise by Dr. Dorothee von Hellermann).
Despite the absence of a signature, we came to the conclusion, that this extremely fine work was executed by Ludwig Doell (1789 - 1863), the court painter of Duke August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and the pupil of the Dresden Academy, which Professor in this time was Kugelgen.Our painting is a completely identical author´s version by L.Doell of his painting "Pandora" which was painted by him in 1817 in Rome, and was situated in the possession of the King of Hanover (castle Marienburg by Hanover and now is in the collection of the Viennese gallery Boris Wilnitsky (see additional photo).
Our painting was also painted at the same time, its high quality and the identity of the composition give us confidence in this attribution. The fact is also known from the artist´s biography, that being an asked artist, Doell created in different orders several versions of his best paintings. For example, the painting "Albanerin", which is also in our collection (see additional photo from our website, item No. 434) was painted by the artist in 3 versions.
Ludwig Doell was born in 1789 in Gotha in the family of the sculptor Friedrich Wilhelm Eugen Doell. In the first time trained by his father and by the royal painter Kuehner in Gotha, in 1805 he became a student of Goethe´s friend Heinrich Meyer in Weimar. From 1806 he studied by the famous neoclassical portraitist Joseph Grassi at the Academy of Dresden. Together with Grassi Doell made two long study trips to Italy: in 1809-1811 and in 1817-1821. During these stays he was mainly copying old masters, but also painted his own compositions. Between 1807 and 1822 Doell was sponsored by Duke August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who regularly gave him numerous portrait commissions. In 1812 Doell was appointed a director of drawing school in Altenburg, and along with this occupation had a close relationship to Gotha court during the following years. The success of "Die Albanerin" brought Doell many portrait commissions from the members of high society. Very soon he became the leading portraitist of his region. In 1824 he was appointed a professor and in 1826 finally settled down in Altenburg. In this town, just chosen as royal residence, he has risen to the leading painter of late classicism and biedermeier. His house became a meeting place for friends of art and a training place for young artists. In 1830-1834 Doell was a director of Kunst- und Handwerksverein (Society of Arts and Crafts) in Altenburg. Works of this artist are displayed in museums of Altenburg, Gotha, Halle, Weimar, etc.
Provenance: sale of Stuttgart auction house Eppli in 2020.
Literature: Thieme/Becker , General artist lexicon, Leipzig, 1999; online wikipedia Inscription: unsigned.
Technique: oil on canvas. Luxuriousy Neoclassicism original period gold-plated frame.
Measurements: unframed 15 3/4" x 22 1/2" (40 x 57cm,) framed 22 3/4" x 30 1/8" ( 58 x 76,5 cm)
Condition: in very good condition, original canvas, no any inpaintings or damages.