SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The Bavarian painter and engraver Albrecht Adam is primarily associated with battle painting, though his work is not limited to it: his oeuvre also includes genre scenes and portraits. His specialisation in military scenes developed under the influence of the history painter Johann Lorenz Rugendas. In 1803, he settled in Nuremberg as an apprentice pastry chef while attending the drawing academy, a dual activity that preceded his engagement with the depiction of military campaigns. In 1809, he accompanied the French army and its Bavarian allies during the campaign of Vienna; noticed by Eugène de Beauharnais, he was appointed court painter. In 1812, appointed draughtsman at the topographical bureau of the Army of Italy, within the IV Corps of the Grande Armée, he produced a series of plates related to the Napoleonic campaign.
From 1815, Adam continued his career in Munich and worked in the service of the Bavarian kings Maximilian I, Ludwig I and Maximilian II. For the Munich royal residence, he painted, among other works, the Battle of Moskowa. Between 1827 and 1833, he published a series of 120 lithographs, demonstrating the important place of printmaking in his production. Another series, devoted to the 1812 campaign in Russia, appeared under the title Voyage pittoresque et militaire de Willenberg en Prusse jusqu’à Moscou: comprising 100 lithographs, it was lithographed and published in Munich by Hermann & Barth in 1828.
In 1848–1849, he followed General Radetzky’s campaign in Italy and brought back battle scenes from Novara and Custozza. A sale catalogue attributes to Adam an oil on canvas entitled Küstenlandschaft mit Pferden und Palmen, described as signed and dated 1853 at the lower right, measuring 46 × 61 cm. Works by the artist are listed among the collections of the Neue Pinakothek and the Munich Residenz.
This profile brings together identity references for Albrecht Adam and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Dobiaschofsky
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on canvas
Küstenlandschaft mit Pferden und Palmen.
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2021-05-07
Published result : 42000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 3000
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Oil on canvas
Rückzug der französischen Armee in Russland, November 1812.
Öl auf Lwd.
Date to be documented
Published result : 125000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 150000
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Oil on canvas
Schlacht von Ostrowno am 26. Juli 1812.
Öl auf Lwd.
Date to be documented
Published result : 240000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 48000
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Oil on canvas
Schlacht von Tarvis am 18. Mai 1809.
Öl auf Lwd.
Date to be documented
Published result : 200000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 48000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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