Friedrich Nerly (1807 - 1878) research project

In 2018, we restored a major work by Friedrich Nerly from his Roman period for the Kunsthalle Bremen: the "Aqua Claudia" from 1836. This large-format painting is the last Nerly completed before moving to Venice, thus marking an early discovery of a subject that would become popular amongst painters of all nations and  depicted as a motif well into the early 20th century.
Nerly was one of the great talents in landscape painting of the early 19th century. He was par particularly apt in pleinair oil studies.
The examinations of "Aqua Claudia" during restoration  yielded extensive insights into his painting technique and working methods.  We were later entrusted with the restoration of Nerlys related oil study of the same motiv in the collection of the Angermuseum erfurt. Findings on this group of works was  pulished in the exhibition cataloge "Nature and Antiquity: The Romantic Friedrich Nerly in Rome, March 14 – July 5, 2026" at the Kunsthalle Bremen (ISBN: 978-3-7774-4659-2)
Research on Nerlys artistic training and his use of pleinair studies based on works in the Bremen and Erfurt Nerly estate was published in the proceedings  Reframing Friedrich Nerly.Landschaftsmaler, Reisender, Verkaufstalent. 2022, S. 297-313, ISBN: 978-3-942513-51-7 and in the exhibition catalogue "Friedrich Nerly - Von Erfurt in die Welt, 2024, ISBN: 978-3-422-80257-5" both by Claudia Denk et al. ed.