FRANZ KAISERMANN (1765-1833)

THE GROTTA DI CAPRI 
Watercolour & bodycolour over etched outlines
29 x 41 cm
 
 
 
Born in Switzerland, Kaisermann travelled to Rome in 1789 to work as an assistant for his fellow countryman, the artist Abraham-Louis-Rodolphe Ducros. Once settled, he produced numerous views of the city and its monuments, catering (like his friend and mentor) to the then-booming tourist industry. The artist had arrived at a perfect moment: with travel growing more and more affordable and convenient, many of the new tourists came from more varied backgrounds than their aristocratic and wealthy predecessors in the mid-18th century.
 
Kaisermann responded to a growing demand for affordable works as souvenirs: these watercolours over etched outlines - a technique learned of course from Ducros - allowed him to recreate commercially desirable views swiftly, with the added advantage that he was able to produce the print basis for the pictures himelf, where Ducros had relied on Volpato.