The above painting by German-born artist Eugene Dekkert was recently sold mislabelled as 'St Monans Harbour'. Many will recognise it immediately as Largo Harbour. The same view is shown below from both c1900 and the present day. One key feature is missing from the painting, however. There is no railway viaduct. This is not because the painting pre-dates the building of the railway line. In fact, it has been deliberately left out - no doubt to create a nostalgic view of old Largo.
Dekkert was born in 1865 - eight years after the opening of the railway line. He came to live in Scotland and lived in first Glasgow and then the East Neuk of Fife in the early 20th century. He and his wife Emma were living in St Monans at both the 1901 and 1911 census. The fact that he lived there, along with the fact that he often painted the harbour at St Monans probably accounts for the inaccurate title on the painting above. It was said in 1906 that "the sea is never absent from his work" and that his style was "strongly individual". He had studied at the Academy in Munich as a student of Theodor Hummel.
Presumably he returned to Germany at the time of the Great War. Later in life Dekkert participated in art exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden and Munich. Many of his works are in international as well as German museums, such as the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Eugene Dekkert died in 1956.
Dekkert was born in 1865 - eight years after the opening of the railway line. He came to live in Scotland and lived in first Glasgow and then the East Neuk of Fife in the early 20th century. He and his wife Emma were living in St Monans at both the 1901 and 1911 census. The fact that he lived there, along with the fact that he often painted the harbour at St Monans probably accounts for the inaccurate title on the painting above. It was said in 1906 that "the sea is never absent from his work" and that his style was "strongly individual". He had studied at the Academy in Munich as a student of Theodor Hummel.
Presumably he returned to Germany at the time of the Great War. Later in life Dekkert participated in art exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden and Munich. Many of his works are in international as well as German museums, such as the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Eugene Dekkert died in 1956.
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