Wilhelm Brücke, Unter den Linden

Lot description

Signed and dated lower right: W. Brücke 1838 Framed by the eponymous linden trees, this veduta depicts Berlin's magnificent boulevard, Unter den Linden. Among the architectural gems lined up on either side, the viewer's gaze is drawn to the Berlin Residence Palace, barely visible in the background. On the left edge of the picture, beneath the trees, is Prince Henry's Palace, built between 1748 and 1766. In 1809, it became the main building of the newly founded University of Berlin (now the Humboldt University). Behind it, only the gabled façade of the significantly lower Neue Wache (New Guardhouse), built between 1816 and 1818 according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, is visible. Behind it rises the considerably more imposing Baroque Armory of 1695/1706. On the right edge of the picture our view is led from the Old Palace, which was built according to plans by Carl Ferdinand Langhans from 1834 to 1837 as a residence for Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, later Emperor Wilhelm I, towards the State Opera, which King Frederick II had built according to plans by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff in the Rococo style from 1741 to 1743. In turn we are drawn to the City Palace in the centre of the picture, which fades into the distance beneath a bright yellow sky. In the foreground, the magnificent architecture is complemented by a varied and imaginative selection of figures. Among other things, the scene includes riders, people resting on benches, children, dogs, and finally, a man standing on a ladder pinning a flyer or poster to a tree. Alongside Eduard Gaertner, Wilhelm Brücke was one of the most important architectural painters of 19th century Berlin. His views of the emerging metropolis are characterised by their precise draughtsmanship, warm colouring, and the combination of a broad panorama with diverse figural interest.