Inscribed in pen and brown ink Jasminum grandiflorm lower right
Pencil and watercolour and traces of gum arabic
370 x 250 mm. (14 x 9 in.)
SOLD
Joseph studied at the Academy in Vienna and was a pupil of his father Johann Knapp (Vienna 1778-1833). Johann Knapp worked as a flower painter and watercolorist and Joseph worked for his father. The elder had also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After working for 3 years in a carpet factory, he became a student of the flower painter Johann Baptist Drechsler.
There was recent exhibition that took place in 2006 and was titled Natur im Aquarell. Meisterwerke der Wiener Hofmaler Johann und Josef Knapp and a catalogue by Helga de Cuveland. Johans most famous painting is Homage to Jacquin, in the collection of The Belvedere, Vienna, and was in honor of the famous botanist Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817), celebrating his fourth anniversary of death. Jacquin was professor of botany and chemistry at the University of Vienna and was at the Botanical Garden as the director.
The Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions. The leaves can be either evergreen or deciduous. Widely cultivated for its flowers jasmine is enjoyed in the garden, as a house plant and as cut flowers. The present drawing, although not signed, shares the same provenance as A Tiger Lily and Narcissus, which is signed.