103. Gustaf Wilhelm Palm

Härlöv, Skåne 1810 – 1890 Stockholm

View of Capri with Mount Solaro, 1841

The Swedish artist Gustaf Wilhelm Palm worked as a botanical illustrator before beginning his formal studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, showing an early interest in the depiction of the natural world. He lived in Rome between 1840-51, undertaking numerous sketching expeditions throughout Italy. Palm’s plein air oil studies are unusually large and highly finished. In this view of Capri, he focused on the originality of the island’s vernacular architecture, with its distinctive vaulted roofs, and the dramatic qualities of its rugged landscape. The wall in the foreground frames the composition in an ingenious way, adding depth to the picture while also providing a splash of bright colour with the foliage and flowers growing along its top edge. The tiny human figures and the laundry hanging out to dry animate the scene and give it a sense of scale. The artist often signed his works in pictorial form, with a small palm tree set beside the date, seen here in the lower right corner.