This fluidly painted landscape was made by the Norwegian painter Thomas Fearnley on his trip to Italy in 1832. Trained by Johan Christian Dahl, Fearnley became a major figure in Norwegian romanticism, despite his early death at the age of 39. Fearnley set out for Italy in September 1832 on foot in the company of the Danish artist Wilhelm Bendz and the German painter Joseph Petzl and after an extensive itinerary took a boat to Venice, arriving on 20 October. Fearnley reached Rome in November, a little short of his thirtieth birthday, and would spend the next three yeas there, ranging around the campagna in pursuit of his creative animus, during which he importantly consolidated his abilities as a plein air artist, adapted and experimented. In the spring of 1833 Fearnley moved to Naples on an extended walking tour of Sicily. The present oil study was made on Sicily in 1833 and shows the view from the Greek theatre at Taormina looking towards Mount Etna.
Thomas Fearnley was born in Frederikshald in Østfold, Norway. He was the son of the merchant, Thomas Fearnley, whose father had emigrated from Yorkshire to Frederickshald, Norway in 1753. Norway had no academy at this date, so he entered the cadet corps of the Military Academy where drawing was one of the subjects taught. In 1818 a public school of drawing was founded in Christiana and Fearnley took evening classes. In 1820 the School of Drawing held its first exhibition. This comprised works by J. C. Dahl, the school’s teachers, and others, Fearnley was awarded the second prize in his class. The following year Fearnley moved to Copenhagen. In the royal collection Fearnley followed the example of Dahl and copied Dutch landscape paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael and Allaert van Everdingen. In 1823 Fearnley moved to Sweden, in Stockholm he received significant commissions from the royal family. At the beginning of 1829 he moved to Dresden and became a pupil of Johan Cristian Dahl. In Dresden Fearnley came into contact with Caspar David Friedrich. But it was Dahl’s rapid way of working and spontaneous landscape method which most influenced Fearnley.
In Italy Fearnley joined a large community of European painters. He became particularly associated with the circle surrounding the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, living amongst Scandinavian and German artists on via Condotti at the foot of the Spanish Steps. In 1833 Fearnley travelled to Sicily where he produced a series of lively, immediate oil sketches. The present work shows the view from the famous Greek theatre at Taormina looking towards Mount Etna. Fearnley has worked rapidly in liquid oil, producing a light-filled landscape dissolving into haze.