Joseph Magnus Stäck

This newly discovered picture executed en plein air is one of Stäck´s last pictures painted during his stay in Italy between 1843-46. It was unknown to G. Serner, Joseph Magnus Stäck 1812-1868, 1934. Serner, however, lists another picture painted in La Spezia during Stäck´s stay there in August 1846; Serner No. 250 ´Golfo di Spezia, cnvas 46 x 37.5 cm.

Stäck left Rome 2 July 1846 for Paris. He travelled via Narni, Perugia and Florence. From Florens he went to La Spezia where he stayed for a fortnight. He then travelled north via Milan to Geneva, where he boarded a carriage bound for Paris, arriving there 28 September (Serner, op. cit., pp. 71-72).

La Spezia is situated in Liguria on the bay of Genua between Genua and Pisa, For centuries its harbour has been important for the export of marble from Carrara, situated south of La Spezia north of Piacenta.

Joseph Magnus Stäck and Gustaf Wilhelm Palm are the two most significant Swedish plein air painters during the 1830-40s´, both of whom produced their most important works in Italy. Serner, op. cit., p. 129 makes a stylistic comparison between the two artists:

´Palm always worked in the classic tradition; his conception of nature owes much to architecture, His subjects are rich in contents. Palm emphasize linearity, in comparison to Stäck, whose vision is more painterly. In Stäck´s work the light is evenly distributed and without any importance for the composition, in contrast to Palm, whose colouring is harder and is based on contrasts between highlight and shadowing.