Wuttke – Pottery in Tunis

Carl Wuttke

(1849 Trebnitz – 1927 Munich)

POTTERY IN TUNIS

1896

Oil on canvas · 28 x 40 cm

Signed and dated: C. Wuttke, Tunis 1896, titled on the back wooden panel

With the simplification of travel through fixed routes and better means of transport, more and more private individuals set out to explore the world towards the end of the 19th century. As they could not yet buy postcards or direct the camera at the subject themselves, traveling artists had a wonderful market. Among these "travel painters" was the landscape painter and globetrotter, Carl Wuttke, who was otherwise traveling in China, Japan, Egypt, the USA, etc.

What makes his courtyard in Tunis particularly appealing and the painting compatible with our classicist offering is the architecture depicted; the Doric and Corinthian columns are spolia, that is, relics from ancient buildings or temples that were used as building material.