Johann Konrad Seekatz, 1719 Grünstadt – 1768 Darmstadt,... Lot n° 967

THE FIRE Oil on canvas. 36 x 45.5 cm. Verso with old annotation, probably from an English auction house, and numbering. In gilded frame with foliage in relief. A mounted commander on a rising white horse issues orders in a nocturnal atmosphere, the darkness of which is illuminated by torches and a village in the background bathed in fire. The finely rendered faces, clothing and details confirm the attribution to Johann Konrad Seekatz. The atmospheric style of Seekatz's works also impressed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with whom he was personally acquainted and who mentions him in the third volume of "Dichtung und Wahrheit". Literature: Cf. Ernst Emmerling, Johann Konrad Seekatz, 1719-1768, ein Maler aus der Zeit des jungen Goethe, Leben und Werk, WVZ, Landau/Pfalz 1991 (1400892) (13)