The Beach at Castellammare

Johan Christian Dahl had long thought about visiting Italy when he was suddenly invited in 1820 by Crown Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark to Villa Quisisana on the Bay of Naples, where the royal couple were to spend the summer and autumn. After two months in Quisisana, Dahl accompanied the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to Naples, where they stayed for the winter.

During the six months he spent in the Naples area, Dahl made numerous drawings, watercolours, and studies in oil. Many of these works seem to be memoranda, hastily executed sketches, and preparatory studies that were meant as a repository for Dahl’s ideas and as a mnemonic aid when Dahl would later convert his impressions from Italy into oil paintings.

Also this depiction of the beach at Castellammare di Stabia has been summarily sketched with light pencil etchings. But the thoroughly revised composition and the deliberate use of watercolour hues makes the picture nonetheless appear to be an autonomous work of art. The placement of the figure in gold in the foreground is not by accident, as the little boy plays a key role as an eye-catching focal point on the otherwise desolate beach. The work exemplifies the importance of Dahl’s stay in southern Italy for his artistic development. Dahl’s style here is more immediate than in his previous watercolours, and the depiction of how the light and the atmosphere affects the landscape is cohesive and more nuanced.