Arcadia Art Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Johann Heinrich Meil (1730 Gotha - 1820 Berlin), Male Nude, 1807. White heightened, occasionally wiped charcoal drawing on brownish paper, 51 cm x 39.5 cm, signed “J.[ohann] H.[einri...

Herbert Seidel (1906 Berlin - 1974 Rüdersdorf), Landscape verso Forest interior, around 1950. India ink on grained, bleached paper, 40.5 x 58 cm, signed “Herbert Seidel” in pencil on...

Seidel, Herbert (1906-1974), Autumn verso Summer Landscape, 1953 Herbert Seidel (1906 Berlin - 1974 Rüdersdorf), Autumn verso Summer Landscape, 1953. India ink on grained, bleached p...

Ludwig von Hofmann (1861 Darmstadt - 1945 Pillnitz), Female nude from the back, around 1900. Red chalk drawing on watermarked drawing paper, 36 cm x 44 cm (sheet size). Artist's liga...

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...

Theodor Hosemann (1807 Brandenburg - 1875 Berlin), The actor Karl Seydelmann as soldier, around 1840. Watercolor in pencil, 22 cm (height) x 14.7 cm (width), signed “Th.[eodor] Hosem...

Theodor Hosemann (1807 Brandenburg - 1875 Berlin), The actor Karl Seydelmann probably as Max Piccolomini, around 1840. Watercolor with pencil, 20.5 cm (height) x 14.7 cm (width), sig...

Stanislas Warnie (1879-1958), Summer Forest Landscape, 1915. Watercolor, 31.5 cm x 45 cm (passepartout), 50.5 cm x 63.5 cm (frame), signed "S. Warnie" at lower left and dated "1915"....

Theodor Scheerbaum (1897 Reichenbach im Vogtland), Wind Dodgers at the Baltic Sea. Watercolor on strong yellowish grained paper, 44 x 56 cm, signed by hand "Th[eodor] Scheerbaum" at ...

Alfred Fuchs (1925 Saarbrücken - 2003 Prague), Lying Boy. Charcoal drawing on strong paper, 30 x 41.5 cm, signed A.[lfred] Fuchs and dated [19]96. - smal...

Otto Günther-Naumburg (1856-1941), The Ruins of St. Clement's Church in Visby, Sweden. Watercolor and ink, heightened with white, on sand-colored paper, mounted on cardboard, 33 x 24...

Arthur Kampf (1864 Aachen - 1950 Castorp-Rauxel), Study to an allegory of victory, around 1900. Pencil on paper, 21 cm x 18 cm, signed lower left "A. Kampf". - slightly darkened, otherwise in good condition - A virtuoso victory - About the artwork The vertical-format sketch illustrates a plateau to which a staircase leads up from the right. Arthur Kampf thus takes up a typical baroque disposition for the depiction of allegories. And indeed, a female figure climbs the steps to hand the palm of victory to a figure that is probably also female. Other persons standing on the plateau pay homage to her, whereby the figure on the left edge of the picture may represent a warrior. The scene is framed by an ornamentally decorated arch field, which additionally emphasizes the allegorical-historical content of the depiction. An arch can also be seen under the staircase, suggesting that this may be a design for a supraport. The sheet could have been created in the wake of Arthur Kampf's appointment in 1899 as head of the studio for history painting at the Berlin Art Academy. The drawing style, which only outlines the idea of the picture and yet is determined by concise lines, corresponds to the sketchiness of the Baroque and testifies to Arthur Kampfs intensive study of this heyday of history painting. About the artist Arthur Kampf was the son of the Aachen painter and imperial court photographer August Kampf. His older brother Eugen and his son Herbert were also painters. Arthur Kampf studied at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1879 under Eduard von Gebhardt and Peter Janssen the Elder, whose master pupil he was from 1883 to 1891. Influenced by the naturalistic paintings of Jules Bastien-Lepage, which Kampf saw on a trip to Paris in 1885, he created the painting "The Last Statement" in 1886, which was based on a personal experience. It shows a man mortally wounded by knife wounds. The oppressive drasticness of the almost life-size depiction caused a sensation and controversial criticism. The first successes were achieved: At the Berlin Jubilee Exhibition of 1886, Kampf received an honorable mention, and at the Munich Annual Exhibition of 1890, he was awarded a gold medal. Between 1886 and 1936, Kampf participated in all the major German exhibitions. In 1887 the artist painted his first fresco, which was the beginning of a series of monumental compositions. With the highly successful painting "The Burial of the Corpse of Kaiser Wilhelm I in the Berlin Cathedral" (1888), Kampf established himself as a painter of contemporary history, following in the footsteps of Adolph von Menzel, whose oeuvre he immediately took up with the painting "Speech by Frederick the Great to His Generals in Koeben" (1893). The pictures of his Liberation War cycle were included in school textbooks and distributed in large editions as postcards. As for his academic career, Kampf became an assistant professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art in 1887, and in 1894 he was appointed professor of the class for antiquities and nature, and in 1897 he became head of the painting class. In 1899 Kampf was appointed director of the history painting studio at the Berlin Academy of Art. In 1901 he became a full member of the academy and was its president from 1907 to 1912. As Anton von Werner's successor, Kampf directed the Academy of Fine Arts in Charlottenburg from 1915 to 1925. Among his monumental works is the painting of the assembly hall of the Aachen town hall, done between 1898 and 1902. It focuses on the social welfare of the state and the work of the people. Important subsequent commissions include the painting of the reading room of the new Royal Library in Berlin and the new auditorium of the University of Berlin with "Fichte's Speech to the German Nation". During World War I, at the request of General Ewald von Lochow, Kampf traveled to the Western theaters of war, including Warsaw in 1916. In addition to painting, Kampf was also intensively involved in printmaking and, together with his brother Eugen and artist friends such as Alexander Frenz and Olof Jernberg, was considered an innovator of lithography in Düsseldorf. From 1913 on, he worked continuously as an illustrator of historical works and literary classics such as Shakespeare and Goethe. Kampf remained a recognized artist after 1933. On the occasion of the retrospective of his complete works at the "Great German Art Exhibition", he was awarded the "Eagle Shield of the German Reich". During the final phase of World War II, Kampf was placed on Hitler's "Gottbegnadetenliste," which protected him from military service. After World War II, Kampf, whose work was largely destroyed, fell into obscurity. Arthur Kampf belonged to numerous artists' associations. He was a member of the "Rheinisch-Westfälischer Künstlerbund", the "Society of German Watercolorists", the "Association of German Illustrators", the "Malkasten", the "Künstlerclub St. Lucas", the "Düsseldorfer Künstlerbund", the "Freie Vereinigung Düsseldorfer Künstler" and the "Berliner Künstlerbund". Arthur Kampf's sister was married to the painter Alexander Frenz. "Kampf's public recognition in the German Empire later led to his being one-sidedly labeled as a history painter and representative of the Wilhelmine era. This classification does not do justice to the artist's oeuvre as a whole. His early talent did not experience a rapid development later on, but it reached an ever greater mastery in the sense of an impressively relaxed realism and extended thematically beyond history. Kampf was also an excellent draughtsman, etcher and lithographer. Many of his works have been destroyed or lost, and some lead a shadowy existence in museum storerooms." - Otto Zirk "His importance as a Wilhelminian painter and cultural politician has been forgotten in favor of an exaggerated reception of his work during the Third Reich. - Andreas Schroyen Selection of public collections that own works by Arthur Kampf: Altonaer Museum Hamburg, Berlinische Galerie, Burg Frankenberg Aachen, Busch-Reisinger Museum Cambridge/Mass., Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, Government Art Collection London, Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund, Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen, Van der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal. Selected Bibliography Hans W...

Manfred K. Schwitteck (*1948), Still life with fish bones, pencil and pencil sharpener, 1992. watercolor over pencil on handmade paper, 31.5 x 45 cm (visible size), 47 x 61 cm (frame...

Charles Edward Brittan Jr (1870 Plymouth - 1949). High moor landscape in the fog. Gouache, signed at lower left "Charles E. Brittan", 18 x 34.5 cm (passepartout), 45 x 62 cm (frame)....

Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (1842 Berlin - 1915 ibid.). Sketch of a female torso with hands and an umbrella. Pencil on paper, 27.5 x 22.5 cm (visible size)...

Ernst Albert Fischer-Cörlin (1853 Körlin - 1932 Persante). Feeding the Kittens, 1893. Pencil on painting cardboard, 38 x 29 cm. Signed and dated by the artist at lower left "E[rnst] A[lbert] Fischer=Cörlin 1893". - Lightly stained, somewhat dusty and minimally foxed. - Little cat mother - About the artwork Daughter, mother and grandmother gather in the sunlight to feed a litter of kittens. The mother and grandmother hold the lively, playful animals in their arms, while the young girl feeds two of the four kittens with cookies. There is also a small bucket of milk and a bowl of milk. The women and the girl watch as the cute, still blind animals eat. It is a scene taken from everyday life, but it also has an allegorical dimension, bringing maternal care into the representation. Three generations are represented, with the grandmother and the mother already mothers. They not only offer the kittens to the youngest, but also proudly observe the maternal care that the youngest gives to the kittens. Like the kittens, she will grow up and become a mother herself, so the image is also an allegory of life's ever-new beginnings. In keeping with this, the morning sun shines into the picture from the right. Fischer-Cörlin has masterfully worked out the quality of the light, with its light and dark areas, with the pencil used...

Hermann Prell (1854 Leipzig - 1922 Dresden-Loschwitz). Half-length portrait of a Pharisee, 1885. Sketch for the right-hand figure in the painting Judas Iscariot, 1886. Pencil drawing heightened with opaque white and black chalk on beige-grey wove paper (papier vélin), 34 x 27.8 cm (visible size), 52 x 45 cm (mount), signed, dated and inscribed "H. PRELL 1885 zu 'Judas'". Minor browning, collection stamp on the reverse. - In the shadow of betrayal - About the artwork This painting is the sketch for the head of the Pharisee offering the coins to Judas in one of Herrmann Prell's major works, the painting Betrayal of Judas, completed in 1886. The painting belongs to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and is illustrated in Adolf Rosenberg: Prell, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1901, p. 21 (Fig. 19). It is especially highlighted in Thieme-Becker (vol. 27, p. 376). Hermann Prell, Betrayal of Judas, 1886 The monumental head, which fills the picture and is distinguished by its ornamented robe, is almost a lost profile, which in the executed painting is justified by the Pharisee's turning towards Judas. Despite the fact that the sitter withdraws from the viewer by turning away, it was necessary to artistically elaborate the motivation for the purchase of one of Christ's disciples, which is why the drawing focuses on the expression of the face, while the 'accessories' are treated in a more summary manner. In characterising the face, Hermann Prell performs a balancing act: since the Pharisee, despite his destructive actions, is an actor in the history of salvation, the head must show a dignity appropriate to the event, but at the same time the physiognomy must also bear witness to the scheming attitude that led to the betrayal. To solve this dilemma, Prell draws on the traditional depictions of the heads of the apostles, shading the face to indicate the obdurate darkness of the spirit and moving the base of the nose slightly upwards while the mouth falls away, thus giving a physiognomic expression to the motivation of the action. The fatal drama of the betrayal is expressed in the monumentalisation of the head and in the thunderous white highlights that contrast with the darkness of the chalk. As a study, considered by the artist to be a work in itself, this drawing reveals the pictorial problems and brainstorming of monumental painting. About the artist In 1872 Prell, who was one of the most important exponents of monumental painting of his time, began studying painting with Theodor Grosse at the Dresden Academy of Art and continued with Carl Gussow at the Berlin Academy in 1876. Hans von Marées taught him in Rome in 1878. More influential on his work, however, were Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger, with whom Prell had been friends since his student days and with whom he worked together on several occasions. Prell's first major work, which established his reputation as a monumental painter, were the frescoes in the banqueting hall of the Architektenhaus in Berlin in 1881/82, commissioned by the state and depicting the different periods of architecture. Prell then went to Italy for two years to study fresco painting. Other major commissions followed. These included monumental frescoes in the town halls of Worms (1884), Hildesheim (1882-92), Gdansk (1895) and Dresden, the staircase of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Breslau (1893/94), the throne room of the German Embassy in Rome (1896-99) and the staircase of the Albertinum in Dresden (1900-1904). From 1886 Prell taught at the academy of arts in Berlin and in 1892 he was appointed professor at the academy of arts in Dresden. His students included Osmar Schindler and Hans Unger...

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...

Adalbert Holzer (1881 Munich - 1966 Munich). Wettersteinkamm. Watercolour, 29 x 34.5 cm (visible size), 37.5 x 43 cm (frame), signed and dated at lower right 'ADALBERT HOLZER [19]23'. Framed behind glass. Frame shows signs of wear. - The blue of the mountains - About the artwork The Wetterstein ridge is revealed to the viewer from a gentle, snow-covered hill. In contrast to conventional depictions of mountains, the painting is composed entirely of shades of blue, which condense into the blue-grey of the rock or fade into the white of the snow. As a complementary colour to the blue, Holzer virtuously activates the ochre ground. The uniform yet exciting polarity of the colours emphasises the massive majesty of the mountains and at the same time underlines the special character of the Wetterstein ridge. Holzer transferred the translucency of glass painting, in which he was originally trained, to watercolour and developed a pictorial language related to the art of Ferdinand Hodler, which earned him the nickname 'Master of Blue' and led to the appreciation of his watercolours in particular. About the artist After an apprenticeship as a stained glass painter at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Adalbert Holzer studied at the Munich Art Academy under Carl von Marr...

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...

Emil Faesch (1865 Basel - 1915 Basel). Sketch of a head. Charcoal on painting cardboard, 60 x 47.5 cm (folio size), signed and dated at lower right "E. Faesch. 1888.". Minor browning. - Carved in stone - About the artwork The life-size head has an immensely present presence. This effect is due to the fact that Faesch took his cue from academic classical...

Adolph Eduard Otto von Faber du Faur (1828 Ludwigsburg - 1901 Munich). Man sitting in the studio. Watercolour painting, 43 x 27 cm (visible size), 73 x 53 cm (frame), monogrammed at lower right, estate stamp. Upper right corner neatly repaired, small tear in the wall to the left of the sitter. - Thinking about art - About the artwork The sitter, an elderly man, is seated in a studio on a pedestal reminiscent of an academy hall. The earthy, dark tones give the scene a weighty quality. The lightest tones are found in the incarnate parts of the figure, which do not stand out from the other colours of the picture, but are linked to them. As a result, the sitter's face is both part of and the highlight of the colour references in the picture. The colour of the sitter's skin is reflected in his pink coat, while his white-grey hair matches the colour of the wall next to him. This almost monochrome wall surface, in turn, is connected across the portrait to the framed picture standing on the floor, which seems to have been erased by this correspondence with the empty wall surface. Through the palette, which is positioned directly behind the sitter's head, the reference to painting, which is already given by the studio space, is explicitly linked to the sitter, who thus seems to be contemplating the question of the meaning of art. This raises the question of whether Faber Du Faur, who had become lonely in his old age, might have painted a self-portrait here in his later years. In addition to the studio setting, the sitter's explicit reference to the palette and the fact that the picture was part of his estate, the only summary elaboration of the body suggests a self-portrait, while the representation of the face is concretised with the wide-open eyes typical of a self-portrait. This concentration on the face gives the impression of the artist's melancholy introspection, captured by the palette and related to the meaning of painting, whose dark character is reinforced by the concealment of the palette hanging on the right of the picture in the light tones so characteristic of Faber Du Faur. In the course of this resignation, Faber du Faur advises his son Hans, who has also become a painter: "Promise me one thing: never move to Munich, they'll kill you here!" Whoever the sitter may be, the references to painting make the portrait a resigned self-contemplation by Faber Du Faur, focused on art. About the artist After leaving school, Otto Faber du Faur entered the service of the Württemberg army, at the same time cultivating his artistic talent. In 1851, on the recommendation of his father Christian Wilhelm, who was himself a battle painter, he spent six months in Munich as an apprentice to Alexander von Kotzebue. In 1852 he was granted a year's leave of absence from military service to study battle painting in the studio of Adolphe Yvon...

Hans Dvořák (19th century). Shady hollow way in a sunny forest. Watercolour and pen-and-ink drawing, 58.5 x 43 cm (visible size), 70 x 55.5 cm (frame), signed and dated "Hans Dvořák ...

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...

Johannes Friedrich Heinrich Hänsch (1875-1945), Red blooming war landscape with dead soldier, 1918. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 15 x 24.5 cm (image), 27 x 37 cm (sheet size / frame), monogrammed and dated "19JH18" at lower left. - Paper slightly darkened About the artwork Despite the relatively small format, the watercolor with an internal frame depicts a panoramic view of a flat landscape stretching to the horizon. As far as the eye can see, the poppies bloom in flaming red. The flowers are not rendered individually, however, creating an almost cohesive red surface. The bright red is interspersed with vegetal green. A complementary contrast that creates an intense color effect. In this color contrast, a white area breaks through from the middle ground, widening towards the foreground and surrounding a brown hole. Next to it, in blue, is the actual protagonist of the painting, the first thing that catches the eye: a dead soldier. Next to him is his helmet, revealing the empty interior. The brown, hollow shape corresponds to the hole in the ground. A shell funnel is surrounded by bright ash, which, like the inverted helmet, becomes a sign of death. The soldier's arms point to the funnel, while the empty helmet paraphrases the calotte of the skull and, like the funnel, thematizes the empty darkness of death. The soldier's body, however, is intact and not - as in Otto Dix's triptych "The War" - a dismembered corpse. Instead, Johannes Hänsch activates the landscape, especially the color, to illustrate a blooming landscape of death that extends from the shell funnel in the foreground to the rising column of smoke on the horizon. If the soldier's body is intact, the tangle of barbed wire emblematically placed over the empty helmet also appears tattered. On the right side of the picture, the barbed wire even seems to stretch its arms to the sky in horror. Against the background of this allegory, the content of the bright red also becomes clear: the landscape is drenched in blood, literally a sea of blood, and the single unknown soldier stands pars pro toto for all those who died on the battlefield. Dying in war is not dying in community, but in solitude. In order to emphasize the isolation in death, Johannes Hänsch has set the blue of the soldier in the axis given by his body in the middle ground of the picture into the red sea. A master of landscape painting, Hänsch succeeds in creating a natural-looking landscape allegory that illustrates the horror and death of war, without depicting the brutality of war itself. This singular 'war memorial' of the unknown soldier is the opposite of heroization and yet the dignity of the deceased soldier is preserved through the integrity of his body. About the artist As the son of the sculptor Adolf Haensch, the young Johannes received his first artistic training in his father's Berlin studio. However, he eventually decided to become a painter, and in 1897 he entered the Berlin Academy of Arts. He initially studied under Paul Vorgang and Eugen Bracht, and was particularly influenced by Bracht's increasingly colourful landscape painting. In 1901 he moved to the class of Friedrich Kallmorgen, with whom he spent several weeks on excursions into nature. In 1905 he became a master pupil of Albert Hertel, who taught him watercolour painting. From 1903 to 1933 he exhibited annually at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, the exhibitions of the Berlin Artists' Association and the Munich Glaspalast. In 1905 he was awarded the Carl Blechen...

Themistokles von Eckenbrecher (1842 Athens - 1921 Goslar), Norwegian pine grove, 1901. Watercolor on blue-green paper, 30 x 22 cm. Signed, dated and inscribed in his own hand "TvE. Fagermes [i.e. Fagermes]. 26.6.[19]01." - Slight crease throughout at left margin, otherwise in good condition. About the artwork Themistokles von Eckenbrecher often traveled to Norway to study the nature that fascinated him there. On June 26, 1901, near the southern Norwegian town of Fagernes, in the summer evening sun, he saw a small pine grove, which he immediately captured in a watercolor. He exposed the trees growing on a small hill in front of the background, so that the pines completely define the picture and combine to form a tense motif. The tension comes from the contrast of form and color. The trunks, growing upward, form a vertical structure that is horizontally penetrated by the spreading branches and the pine needles, which are rendered as a plane. This structural tension is further intensified by the color contrast between the brown-reddish iridescent trunks and branches and the green-toned needlework. Themistokles von Eckenbrecher, however, does not use the observed natural scene as an inspiring model for a dance of color and form that detaches itself from the motif and thus treads the path of abstracting modernism. Its inner vitality is to be brought to light and made aesthetically accessible through the work of art. It is precisely in order to depict the inner vitality of nature that von Eckenbrecher chooses the technique of watercolor, in which the individual details, such as the needles, are not meticulously worked out, but rather a flowing movement is created that unites the contrasts. The trees seem to have formed the twisted trunks out of their own inner strength as they grew, creatingthose tense lineations that the artist has put into the picture. The inner strength continues in the branches and twigs, culminating in the upward growth of the needles. At the same time, the trunks, illuminated by the setting sun, seem to glow from within, adding an almost dramatic dimension to the growing movement. Through the artwork, nature itself is revealed as art. In order to make nature visible as art in the work, von Eckenbrecher exposes the group of trees so that they are bounded from the outside by an all-encompassing contour line and merge into an areal unity that enters into a figure-ground relationship with the blue-greenish watercolor paper. The figure-ground relationship emphasizes the ornamental quality of the natural work of art, which further enforces the artwork character of the group of trees. With the presentation of Themistokles von Eckenbrecher's artistic idea and its realization, it has become clear that the present watercolor is not a study of nature in the sense of a visual note by the artist, which might then be integrated into a larger work context, but a completely independent work of art. This is why von Eckenbrecher signed the watercolor. In addition, it is marked with a place and a date, which confirms that this work of nature presented itself to him in exactly this way at this place at this time. At the same time, the date and place make it clear that the natural work of art has been transferred into the sphere of art and thus removed from the time of the place of nature. About the artist Themistocles' parents instilled a life of travel in their son, who is said to have spoken eleven languages. His father, who was interested in ancient and oriental culture, was a doctor and had married Francesca Magdalena Danelon, an Italian, daughter of the British consul in Trieste. During a stay in Athens - Gustav von Eckenbrecher was a friend of Heinrich von Schliemann and is said to have given him crucial clues as to the location of Troy - Themistokles saw the light of day in 1842. After an interlude in Berlin, where Themistokles was educated at the English-American School, the journey began again. From 1850 to 1857 the family lived in Constantinople, after which the father opened a practice in Potsdam, where Themistokles, who wanted to become a painter, was taught by the court painter Carl Gustav Wegener. In 1861 the von Eckenbrechers left Potsdam and settled in Düsseldorf. There Themistokles received two years of private tuition from Oswald Aschenbach, who greatly admired the talented young artist. After his artistic training, he undertook extensive travels, often accompanied by Prince Peter zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, which took him to northern and eastern Europe, but above all to the Middle East and even to South America. The paintings that resulted from these journeys established his artistic reputation and led to his participation in large panoramas such as the 118 x 15 metre Entry of the Mecca Caravan into Cairo, painted for the City of Hamburg in 1882. 1882 was also the start of a total of 21 study trips to Scandinavia, most of them to Norway, and the unique Norwegian landscape with its rugged fjords became a central motif in his work. Along with Anders Askevold and Adelsteen Normann...

Carl Friedrich Deiker (1838 Wetzlar - 1892 Düsseldorf). Vigilant fox. Pencil drawing on brown paper, 18 × 29.5 cm (inside measurement), 31.5 x 43.5 cm (mount), signed and dated "Deiker [18]54" at lower right. - a little bit stained, with a light water stain at lower right About the artwork Carl Friedrich Deiker's consummate ability to depict animals is already evident in this early work. He brought a whole new psychological dimension to animal painting, so that one could literally speak of animal portraits. The naturalistic appearance of the fox alone makes it seem alive. Every strand of muscle, even every hair, is captured, which requires an intensive artistic study of animal anatomy and physiology. But the fox's real liveliness comes not from its natural appearance, but from its internal movement: Stretched out, it has been brought out of rest. It turns around and, with its ears pricked up, looks intently in the direction from which it has seen something. His mouth is slightly open and his pointed teeth are bared, as if he were growling. Tension gradually takes hold of his whole body. While the hind legs were still in a relaxed position, closely observed by Deiker, one front leg was already raised, ready to begin a rising movement. The fox seems so alarmed with all its senses that one gets the impression that, at any moment, its tail will move jerkily and the animal will jump up. While wild animals have traditionally been portrayed as beasts or anthropomorphised, often for caricatural purposes, Deiker explores their inherent nature by attempting to capture their psychic impulses. The wild animal is neither bestial nor human, but a creature in its own right, valued by Deiker for its own sake. In this way, he brought the dignity of the animal into representation and raised animal painting to a whole new artistic level. About the artist Carl Friedrich Deiker was the son of the drawing teacher Christian Friedrich Deiker and the younger brother of the animal painter Johannes Deiker. In addition to the family art lessons, Christian Friedrich shared a studio with his brother Johannes at Braunfels Castle, Deiker attended the drawing academy in Hanau, and from 1858 he was a student at the Karlsruhe Art Academy, where he studied under the landscape painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer. Carl Friedrich Deiker was already in demand as an artist during his first year: Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden, Margrave Max of Baden and Grand Duke Michael of Russia bought hunting scenes by him. In 1859 he went on a study trip to the Reinhardswald. Just as the Barbizon School had rediscovered the landscape, Deiker opened up the forest for animal painting. From 1861-64 Deiker had his own studio in Karlsruhe, then moved to Düsseldorf, where his brother Johannes followed four years later. Deiker married a daughter of the landscape painter Karl Hilger and remained in Düsseldorf until his death. In 1868 he finally achieved international fame with his painting 'Pursued Noble Deer' and was regarded as a virtuoso new founder of animal painting. "Deiker brought for the first time a truly great artistic quality to animal painting [...]". - Hans Vollmer From 1870 he participated in the academic art exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden, Munich and Hanover. He was also very busy as an illustrator. He drew for the Gartenlaube, the Salon, the Universum, and produced many of the finely illustrated hunting and animal books of the period. He also worked as a printmaker, while his oil paintings circulated as reprints by Franz Dinger. From 1865 to 1892 Deiker was a member of the artists' association Malkasten. Carl Friedrich Deiker's life's work was honoured with a large posthumous memorial exhibition at the Düsseldorf Kunsthalle in 1892. His son Carl Deiker, born in 1879, also became a painter. Selection of art museums that own works by Carl Friedrich Deiker: Hamburger Kunsthalle / Kunsthalle Karlsruhe / Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf / Wallraff Richartz Cologne. Selected Bibliography H. Schmidt: Johannes and...

Franz Xaver Graessel (1861 Oberasbach/Baden - 1948 Emmering). In the forest of Durlach. 1881. Pencil drawing, heightened with white, on grey-green paper. 33 x 41.7 cm. Signed, dated and inscribed by the artist himself: 'Franz Graessel. Durlach, 12 April 1881". About the artwork The drawing depicts a view of the woods which, as if sharpening the visual focus, remains diffuse at the edges and does not allow the viewer to locate himself in the picture. As a result, the landscape appears to be an apparition, but at the same time it is given real substance by the solidity of the massive arched bridge made of quarry stone. As the main motif of the painting, the bridge, which blends in with nature like an archaic relic, also acts as a visual guide, drawing attention to the white, raised waters of the stream and the surrounding vegetation. The diffusion of perception that takes place there, however, draws the eye back to the bridge and thus to the overall view. This movement initiating a constant alternation of diffusion and concretion, which is the specific tension of the painting that brings the landscape to life. The materialisation and dematerialisation, however, does not take place solely through the eye's wandering through the picture; it is simultaneously linked to the viewer's approach to and distance from the picture, which loses its richness of detail precisely in the close-up, only to reconfigure itself with increasing distance. In this work, which dates from Graessel's studies in Karlsruhe, the artist reflects on the emergence of pictorial objectivity. Here, however, nature is more than a mere motif. The real connection between culture and nature is symbolically expressed by the choice of green paper. The drawing is an impressive testimony to Graessel's mastery of the sprezzatura with which he skilfully applies the most abstract of strokes, which visibly merge towards the centre of the picture. The signature and the exact date prove that Graessel gave this work more than the character of a mere sketch. About the artist Franz Graessel grew up in an environment that was to nourish his later key motifs: his parents' house was a mill. After attending the Karlsruhe Academy of Art from 1878 to 1884, where he studied under Carl Hoff, Graessel continued his training at the Munich Academy from 1886 to 1890 as a pupil of Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt. Trained primarily in genre and portrait painting, he initially portrayed the life of Black Forest farmers. From 1894 he turned increasingly to animal painting, concentrating on the depiction of ducks and geese, which earned him the nickname 'Enten-Graessel'. Graessel's work thus parallels that of Alexander Koester...