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ADOLPH von MENZEL
Breslau 1815 ~ 1905 Berlin
Adolph von Menzel was
a remarkable draughtsman and has often been referred to as a pioneer of realism. In later life, he drew a large number of informal, close-up portraits, in graphite or black chalk. These portraits were not of friends
but of people he saw in the streets or restaurants of Berlin.1 He preferred heads in profile and from unusual angles and often concentrated on depicting the texture of the hair or a beard. Sometimes he would repeat the same head more than once, on the same sheet, as in The Study of a Man,
formerly in the Ian Woodner Collection.2 His desire was to capture a single moment, a fleeting glance or moods of fragility and melancholy. Technically, these late drawings create a powerful effect through the artist's use of stumping to increase the strong chiaroscuro effect of the modelling.
Our drawing, bearing Menzel's usual monogram, is a fine example of his late style. It portrays a relatively well-dressed, middle-aged man. The profile is three-quarters turned away from the viewer but the
strong classical nose and alert eye, enhanced by a bushy eyebrow, reveal the sympathetic character of the sitter. These portrait drawings are usually sketch-book size and reflect the 'candid-camera' view often used
in photography. We see this approach again in the oeuvre of the younger French painter, Eugène Degas.
1. Marie Ursula Riemann-Reyher, in AA. VV., Menzel (1815–1905), 'la névrose du vrai', exh. cat. Paris, July 1996, p. 452.
2.The Age of Elegance & Barbizon
Realist and French Landscape Paintings, Christie's sale catalogue, New York, 6th May, 1999, lot 110.
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