Lot 25
  • 25

Benjamin Patersson

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Benjamin Patersson
  • Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Foundation of St. Petersburg, 1808
  • inscribed peint par B. Paterssen, 1808 (lower left); also inscribed Vue de la fête á cause du Jubilé de la foundation de St Petersbourg, y celebré á la place de la statue de Pierre 1er le 12 May 1803, par L'Empereaur Alexandre I (lower center)
  • watercolor on paper
  • 29 1/2 by 20 1/2 in.
  • 75 by 52 cm

Catalogue Note

Benjamin Patersson was born in Sweden, but he resettled in St. Petersburg in 1787.  He was appointed the official painter of the Imperial Court in 1800, and he devoted his oeuvre primarily to depictions of St. Petersburg. Although he is best known for his etchings and lithographs, this rare and very important watercolor exhibits his superb skill as a painter. Dated 1808, the work served as a tribute to the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of St. Petersburg and was dedicated to Tsar Alexander I. Patersson's composition records the imagery of the official celebration on the Neva with magnificent precision and detail.