Object Details
Object Essay
Probably self-taught or briefly instructed by some unknown itinerant painter, Sonntag grew up in Cincinnati and exhibited his first painting in 1841—a Jupiter and Calisto presumably copied from a European print.1In contemporary biographies, for which Sonntag himself was the source, no teacher is named. See Moure, 16. In Moure’s checklist, the Collection’s painting (then unlocated) is no. 397 on p. 129 (illus. on p. 15, fig. 9). When acquired by the Collection, it was known only as Blue Ridge Mountains. To avoid future confusion, Moure’s title has been restored. Moure noted only a partial signature: “Sonntag.” The initials may have been uncovered by later conversation. The small difference in dimensions recorded may be discounted. While supporting himself as a clerk, he found his first professional opportunities. Around 1846, Sonntag was hired by the Western Museum in Cincinnati to “paint the needed dioramas, to make thunder on the drums, to blow for the organist, light the lamps and to make himself generally useful.”2Cosmopolitan Art Journal 3 (December 1858), 27; for the article in full, see Moure, 9–13; see also Spassky, 162–64, and Henning, 41–42 and pl. 6. Not long afterward, he established his own studio and began to receive commissions of a more serious nature. By 1851, the visiting artist Frank Blackwell Mayer rated Sonntag “most eminent in landscape.”3Spassky, 162; Moure, 19.
In 1853, Sonntag went abroad to study; two years later, he was in Florence. The textured paint surfaces and sharply defined light favored by Florentine painters of the mid-19th century had a decisive impact on his style. At his best, Sonntag’s paintings have a vivid crispness that is similar to the effect of stereoscopic views, popular in Europe and America from the 1850s onward. Upon his return from Italy, Sonntag settled in New York City and, except for painting trips in America and abroad, resided there for the rest of his long life.
Because Sonntag’s compositions vary little, they are of small help in dating his frequently undated, fundamentally idealizing paintings. His handling of paint and color, however, did vary. From about 1870 until the end of his life, his paintings became progressively more tonal under the growing influence of the French Barbizon School. Prior to that, high-keyed color and textured surfaces were characteristic. His drawing and brushwork are sometimes mannered and exaggerated, especially in the foliage.
In the Blue Ridge Mountains, River View belongs to Sonntag’s earlier period. Although a showy picture, it is not especially mannered. The homogenous surface is skillfully painted with a wet, oily appearance. Strong, saturated greens in the foreground contrast with the more tonal distance to heighten the spatial effect. Other hues are selectively deployed.
Sonntag is known to have visited the area of the Cheat River (then in Virginia), on the west side of the Blue Ridge, where he applied his formulaic compositions to the Appalachian scenery.4In 1863, the western spur of Virginia in which Cheat Mountain and Cheat River were located broke away from the secessionist state to form West Virginia. Moure, 117, no. 286. Blue Ridge Wilderness, a smaller undated picture now at the William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, shows the same landscape with the features slightly rearranged. Sonntag exhibited at least two Blue Ridge paintings at the National Academy of Design (in 1859, no. 208; in 1860, no. 421). See National Academy of Design Exhibition Record, 1826–1860, 2: 132. This painting must date from those years—1859 and 1860—and is probably of that region. It is a mature work, which supports Frank Blackwell Mayer’s judgment that Sonntag’s paintings were “remarkably fine, distinct, characteristic & truthful.”5Spassky, 162.
William Kloss
Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.