Blick aus einem Gefängnisfenster in den Himmel (View to the Sky from a Prison Window) by Carl Gustav Carus, €175,000 (£150,860) at Kinsky.
Carus was a man of many parts. He graduated as a doctor and was a professor of obstetrics, but he also took a doctorate of philosophy; he published several scientific treatises, among others on the subject of mesmerism; he was a friend of Goethe and of many of the Romantic writers of his day; and he later became acquainted with the painter Caspar David Friedrich.
With regards to his painting, he was largely self-taught but greatly influenced by Friedrich with whom he undertook several journeys.
The work in Vienna was signed, dated 1823 and titled Blick aus einem Gefängnisfenster in den Himmel (View to the Sky from a Prison Window).
The vendor of the 11 x 8½in (29 x 22cm) canvas was an Austrian collector who was hoping to receive between €10,000-20,000 at the auction on June 20.
As things turned out, the bidding took off and only ceased when an American buyer put up €175,000 (£150,860).
That is just below the record price set in 2015 by Grisebach in Berlin which sold Phantasie aus der Alpenwelt (Fantasy from the Alpine World) for €180,000.
