ANNIVERSARY TRIPTIQUE IN HONOR OF 500 YEARS OF SHIPPING IN HAMBURG

Painter of seascapes and landscapes; illustrator.

Robert Gleich studied at the Academies of Königsberg, Munich and Düsseldorf. He started his career at the Atelier Petersen in Hamburg as a painter of seascapes and then started his own studio. He illustrated Berthold Benecke’s “Fische, Fischschijn und Fischerei in Ost- und Westpreußen” from 1888.

Gleich lived and worked in Hamburg.

The triptych on display here was painted to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Hamburg’s shipping industry.

The main scene represents a modern harbor view with the steamer “Deutschland” and the left and right panels depict historic ships: on the left the “Bunte Kuh” from 1402 and on the right the “Wappen von Hamburg” from 1685.

Very refined work, strong colors and careful elaboration.

The work is still in the original Jugendstil frame, on which the following inscriptions can be read, from left to right: ‘”Bunte Kuh” 1402’, ‘”Deutschland” 1905’, ‘500 Jahre Hamburger Schiffahrten’ and “Wappen von Hamburg, 1685″‘.