Paul Meyerheim

Study with Torso, Hands, and Umbrella - The characteristic of the inconspicuous

c. 1890

Bruno Paul (1874 Seifhennersdorf - 1968 Berlin). Self-portrait, c. 1895. Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard, 53.5 x 35 cm, signed 'Paul' at upper left. - Homo nudus - About the artwork In a mirrored situation, Bruno Paul looks at himself in the picture. While his body, which is the size of the format, is shown in profile parallel to the picture, he turns his head into the picture in order to become aware of himself there, whereby the lighter use...

Alexander Frenz (1861 Rheydt - 1941 Düsseldorf). Plant impression in Locarno. Gouache and watercolour. 35 x 23,5 cm (visible size), 49,5 x 38,5 cm (fra...

Hans Richard von Volkmann (1860 Halle (Saale) - 1927 ibid.), Clay jug on a bench. Pencil and Watercolour on paper. 20 x 26,7 cm (visible size), 37 x 45 cm (frame), dated and monogrammed lower left "Februar 1890 - HR. V. V." - Minimally tanned. Framed behind glass in a passepartout. About the artwork Using the technique of his early youth - pencil and watercolour - Hans Richard von Volkmann depicts a still life. However, this is not a conventional indoor still life, but an open-air depiction, painted outdoors and not in the studio. It is therefore an open-air painting, characteristic of von Volkmann's oeuvre, which could have been painted in the Willingshausen colony of painters, where open-air painting was programmatically practised there and the artist stayed there that year. And indeed, this painting is a manifesto of open-air painting. Von Volkmann demonstrates that leaving the studio for the light of nature leads to an entirely new quality of art. To prove this, he uses the genre of still life, which can be described as the studio subject par excellence. Moreover, light plays an essential role in the classical still life. It is the real protagonist of the still life. And it is precisely this moment, essential to the still life, that von Volkmann exploits to demonstrate the potential of plein-air painting: He presents the objects as they appear in the sunlight. The date of February and the bare branches in the foreground make it clear that this is a clear winter day in bright sunlight. The delicate plant in the foreground casts a clearly defined shadow, as does the jug. However, the shadow is most pronounced on the jug itself: The underside of the handle appears almost black, making the top, and therefore the jug itself, shine all the more brightly. The shining of the objects in the sunlight is also visible on the bench. As complementary phenomena to the shadow zones, light edges can be seen on the boards of the seats and the upper foot of the bench shines entirely in the light. To achieve this intensity of light, von Volkmann activated the bright white of the painting ground. By depicting the objects in glistening sunlight, von Volkmann demonstrates that this quality of light is only to be found outdoors. And this light leads to a new way of looking at the objects themselves. The jug on the bench seems like an accidental arrangement, as if the artist had stumbled upon this unintentional still life and captured it with fascination. And in this fascination there is a moment of realisation that refers to the objects themselves. It is only when they shine brightly in the sunlight that their true nature is revealed. In this way, sunlight allows the objects to come into their own, so to speak. Sunlight, which is not present in the studio, gives the still life an entirely new dimension of reality, which is also reflected in the colours interwoven by the sunlight: The bench and the jug stand in a harmonious grey-pink contrast to the green of the implied meadow. The emphasis on the jug as the central subject of the picture also implies that the watercolour has not been completed. This non finito inscribes a processuality into the picture, making it clear that something processual has been depicted, the temporality of which has been made artistically permanent. This is why von Volkmann signed the painting and dated it to the month. About the Artist Von Volkmann made his first artistic attempts at the age of 14. He painted many watercolours of his home town of Halle. This laid the foundation for his later outdoor painting. In 1880 his autodidactic beginnings were professionalised with his admission to the Düsseldorf Art Academy. There he studied under Hugo Crola, Heinrich Lauenstein, Johann Peter Theodor Janssen and Eduard von Gebhardt until 1888. Von Volkmann then moved to the Karlsruhe Academy, where he was Gustav Schönleber's master pupil until 1892. In 1883 he came for the first time to Willingshausen, Germany's oldest painters' colony, at the suggestion of his student friend Adolf Lins...

Emil Wachter (1921 Neuburgweiser - 2012 Karlsruhe), Rebekka, 1987. Watercolor mounted on cardboard, 13.5 (height) x 14 cm (width). Signed “E.[mil] Wa[chter]” in pencil within the ima...

Lowell Nesbitt Untitled Rose, 1983 Graphite on Lanaquarelle Watercolor Paper Signed and dated on the front Framed Unique, poignant, exquisitely rendered graphite drawing on watercolor paper with deckled edges. This work is framed and ready to hang; frame bears Alan Brown Gallery (Hartsdale) label verso. It was acquired from the Estate of Noel Frackman, renowned art historian, scholar, writer, and professor with a lifelong passion for 20th Century Art - and a close personal friend of Lowell Nesbitt. She earned a M.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in English Literature and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. She was an art critic for the Patent Trader Newspaper and the Scarsdale Inquirer, contributing editor for Arts Magazine, author of numerous catalogs including ''John Storrs'', for the Whitney Museum of American Art. For 19 years she was a faculty member at Purchase College, State University of New York. Measurements: Framed: 13 inches by 13 inches x .5 Artwork: approx. 10.5 inches by 10.5 inches Lowell Nesbitt Biography: Lowell Blair Nesbitt, painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and sculptor, was born in Baltimore, Maryland on 4 October 1933. He studied at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Nesbitt worked in abstraction until Robert Indiana suggested in the early 1960s that he explore realism in his paintings. As subjects for his work he favored studio interiors, articles of clothing, piles of shoes, his Rottweiler, the Neo-Classical facades of 19th century cast iron buildings, and Manhattan's bridges. He was also famous for his enormous paintings and prints of roses, lilies, irises, and other flowers. In 1980, the United States Post Office issued...

Highly detailed still-life in graphite of a balancing stack of rocks by Pacific Northwest artist Kate Scott (American, b.1943). Signed "K. Sc...

An original mixed media drawing by American artist A.J. Fries.

Finely detailed figurative illustration of a young woman leaning against a fence. The woman is wearing a plaid dress and bonnet with a black ribbon. Some of the landscape has been il...