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| 1904 Adolph Menzel photographed by Jacob Hilsdorf |
The German painter, etcher and lithographer Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905) ranks alongside Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) as one of the most innovative figures in German Art of the 19th Century. However, unlike Friedrich, who believed deeply in the romantic power of nature, Menzel believed in Realism and strove for an objective, true-to-life representation of the world. A master of drawing and various types of print-making, as well as realist painting, he created over 10,000 paintings, drawings and fine art prints, including 400 illustrations for the life of Emperor Frederick the Great. His canvases - including history paintings and genre scenes, as well as portraits - are typically well researched, acutely observant and highly detailed. His palette, treatment of light and overall style - as exemplified for instance by Living Room with the Artist's Sister (1847, Bavarian State Art Collection, Neue Pinakothek, Munich) pre-dated French Impressionism by twenty five years. Menzel now ranks alongside the best modern artists of 19th century Germany.
For full biographical notes on Adolph Menzel see part 1. For earlier works by Menzel see parts 1 & 2 also.
This is part 3 of a 10-part series on the works of Adolph Menzel:
1846-57 wood engravings from: Two hundred illustrations of the works of Frederick the Great:
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The Marquis de Valory and St. Godiva
wood engraving 10.2 x 11.3 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Allegory of the secret plans of Austria and France against Prussia
wood engraving on chine collé 7 x 4.5 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Comic personification of a Library
wood engraving 9.6 x 10.1 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Crowned Figure
wood engraving 10.2 x 11.9 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Graf Hoditz
wood engraving 8.4 x 9.4 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Saturn in the form of a winged Ogre
wood engraving 11.8 x 11.9 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
wood engraving 9.5 x 10.2 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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Gorgons pursuing Apollo and the Muses through a Wood
wood engraving 9.3 x 12.4 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
1850 Frederick the Great and his Paladins(Kriegs- und Friedens-Helden) published in Berlin by Alexander Duncker 12 wood engravings (10 found):
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| 1886 issue of Kriegs- und Friedens-Helden |
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| 1850 Frederick the Greatwood engraving |
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1850 Prince Leopold I of Anhalt Dessau
wood engraving |
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1851 Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, Prussian General
wood engraving 26.2 x 21.7 cm |
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1856 Study sketch for the Portrait of General Winterfield (above)
black and white chalk on thin cardboard 30 x 24.5 cm |
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c1856 Figure of a Man unbinding his Sash(Study sketch for the Portrait of General Winterfield?)
black chalk with stumping, heightened with white on brown wove paper 29.2 x 21.9 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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1851 Jakob (James) Keith, Prussian Field Marshal
wood engraving 26.5 x 21.7 cm |
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1853 Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian Field Marshal
wood engraving 26.3 x 21.4 cm |
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1855 (Title not found)
wood engraving |
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1855 Prince Friedrich Eugen von Württemberg, Prussian Equestrian General
wood engraving 26.3 x 21.6 cm |
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| (Details not found) |
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1847 Gustav Adolph greets his wife outside Hanau Castle
oil on canvas 55 x 68 cm
Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany |
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1847 Living room with Menzel's sister
oil on paper mounted on card 46.1 x 31.6 cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München |
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1847 On the Kreuzberg, near Berlin
oil on canvas 89.5 x 114.5 cm
Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany |
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1847 The artist’s bedroom in Ritterstraße
oil on cardboard 46 x 56 cm
Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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1847 The Berlin-Potsdam Railway
oil on canvas 42 x 52 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
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1847 View of Back Yards
oil on paper mounted on board 27 x 53 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1847-48c Portrait of a Young Girl
chalk 38.3 x 29.7 cm
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1848 An infant asleep in his crib
pastel
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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1848 Caroline Arnold
pastel 45 x 23.8 cm
Private Collection |
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1848 Clara Ilger, later Frau Schmidt von Knobelsdorf
oil on canvas 44 x 36 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1848 Fräulein Maecker
watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper 22.5 x 18 cm |
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1848 Head of horse wearing bridle, lying down
oil on paper mounted on board 64.2 x 50 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1848 Menzel's sister Emilie, sleeping
oil on paper mounted on canvas 46.8 x 60 cm
Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany |
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1848 Richard Menzel, the artist's brother
chalk 25 x 37 cm Private Collection |
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1848 Stairway landing in nocturnal lighting
oil on paper mounted on board 36 x 21.5 cm
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany |
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1848 Study of a hand
pastel 23 x 18.5 cm |
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1848 The Flute Concert atSanssouci (sketch)
31.5 x 43.8 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1850-52 Concert for flute with Frederick the Great in Sanssouci
oil on canvas 142 x 205 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
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1848 Victims of the March Revolution in Berlin Lying in State
oil on canvas
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany |
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1848 Victims of the March Revolution in Berlin Lying in State (detail)
oil on canvas Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany |
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1848c An infant asleep
graphite on thin light blue paper 13.3 x 21.5 cm
Private Collection |
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c1848 In the Railway Carriage
oil on canvas 43.1 x 52.2 cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München |
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1849 Conversation between two voters
pastel 18 x 23 cm
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1849 Two voters and study of one
pastel 17 x 24 cm
Private Collection |
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1849 The Petition
oil on canvas 60 x 75 cm
Burg Hohenzollern, Bisingen, Germany |
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1849-50 The Round Table of Frederick II at Sanssouci
oil on canvas
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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c1850-51 Rococo fireplace
pastel on brown paper 44.4 x 27.6 cm
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1850-55 Man with cigar
coloured chalk 22.9 x 15.4 cm
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
1850-51 Experiments on Stone with Brush and Scraper:
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1851 Title Page for Experiments on Stone with
Brush and Scraper
lithograph printed in black ink on brown/grey wove paper
51.1 x 36.2 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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1850 Molière, 1850
lithograph printed in black ink with buff tone plate on wove paper 21.3 x 17.8 cm (image)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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c1851 Captives Driven through the Woods
lithograph printed in black ink with grey/green tone plate on wove paper 23.5 x 17.8 cm (image)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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c1851 Playing with Hoops on the Terrace
lithograph printed in black ink with buff tone plate on chine-collé 23.5 x 17.8 cm (image)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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c1851 Pursuit on the Winding Stairs
lithograph printed in black ink with buff tone plate on chine-collé 21 x 14.6 cm (image)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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c1851 The Bear Pit at the Zoological Garden
lithograph printed in black ink with grey tone plate on chine-collé 24.8 x 19.7 cm (image)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
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c1951 Woman Seated by the Fireplace
lithograph printed in black ink with buff tone plate on wove paper 23.5 x 17.8 cm (plate)
Detroit Institute of Arts, MI |
