Drawing Detail
English Embankment in PetersburgArtist: Johann Philipp Eduard Gaertner
Medium: Drawings, Watercolour, 19.5x33.5 cm
Date: 1835
Genre: Cityscape, Landscape
Source: from the artist, 1838
Johann Philipp Eduard Gaertner (2 June 1801, Berlin - 22 February 1877, Flecken Zechlin, in Rheinsberg) was a German painter who specialized in depictions of urban architecture paintings.
It is believed that he made use of a camera obscura to sketch the layouts of his paintings. Although this is not expressly mentioned in his working notes, he does make oblique references to a "drafting machine" and some of his sketches are done on tracing paper. He also possessed a collection of photographs, but there is no indication that these were used as models.