Pair of watercolours depicting panoramic views of Munich

Wilhelm von Kobell was born in Mannheim as the son of painter Ferdinand Kobell. His primary lessons in the painter’s art were provided by his father and his uncle Franz Kobell, who was also a painter and etcher. Later, he apprenticed under Franz Anton von Leydensdorf and Egid Verhelst at the academy in Mannheim. By his own admission, he was strongly influenced by the seventeenth-century French painter Claude Lorrain. After travelling to Rome in 1778, he was appointed court painter in Mannheim. In 1792 he moved to Munich, where he became a professor at the academy in 1808.

In his early career, he mainly focused on landscapes and rural genre scenes. However, the best part of his success came from his works depicting battles and scenes with horses and riders.

Kobell’s works are part of various renowned collections, such as Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris.