Dimensions: 19x14 cm
Frame: yes
Adrian Zingg: In 1759, having completed his apprenticeship in his native Switzerland, Adrian Zingg moved to Paris, where he was to live and work until 1766. Here he made the lasting acquaintance of Johann Georg Wille, who was a generation older than himself. Wille took the young artist under his wing and introduced him to the Parisian artistic scene. In the French capital Zingg was mainly active as a reproductive engraver, making such a name for himself in this fi eld that in 1766 he was appointed to teach engraving at the newly founded Dresden Academy. In his new home Zingg became friends with Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich and Anton Graff, a fellow Swiss. With Graff he undertook his first hike through the nearby Elbsandsteingebirge - a low mountain range on both sides of the River Elbe- in the summer of 1766. In the following years Zingg not only systematically explored the Saxon landscape, but also travelled through Bohemia, Thuringia and Brandenburg. The huge fund of nature studies he made in the course of these expeditions constitute the real basis of his art and established his reputation as a landscape painter. The public distinctions the artist accumulated over the years refl ected his renown. In 1769 the Vienna Academy appointed him a corresponding member, and in 1787 he became a member of the Berlin Academy. In 1803 Zingg was appointed to the Chair of Landscape Drawing at the Dresden Academy, which enabled him to play an important role in the development of Romantic landscape painting.
