English School, Early 19th Century

Anonymous sale, New Orleans, Neal Auction Company, 2-3 June 2001, lot 261 (as Richard Wilson);
There acquired by Richard L. Feigen.

This view of an eruption at Lake Avernus illustrates a particular fascination with the Campagna region in Italy held by artists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Fellow artists such as J.M.W. Turner and Richard Wilson found inspiration here thanks to its volcanic landscape and Mediterranean views. The present lot was previously thought to be by Wilson but was most likely painted by an as-yet unidentified English artist working in Italy in the generation that followed.