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 - 9 also.
This is part 10 of a 10-part series on the works of Adolph Menzel:
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1897 An old seated woman in profile
soft black lead 18.2 x 12.4 cm |
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1898 After the match
graphite on paper mounted on card 17.2 x 12 cm |
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1898 Standing woman in street dress holding a parasol
graphite with stumping on cream wove paper
21 x 13.2 cm (sheet)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA |
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1898 Three head studies
carpenter's pencil and stumping on paper 30.4 x 22 cm |
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1899 Doctor and patient
graphite 21 x 13.1 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1899 Heads of a man and a woman
graphite with stumping 10.5 x 15.6 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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1899 The card game
graphite and black chalk with stumping, erasing, and scraping, with touches of brush and black ink, on cream wove paper 19.8 x 26.7 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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1899 Three fallen soldiers in a barn - the mortuary at Königinhof
graphite and watercolour on paper 27.3 x 18. cm
Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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1899 Three studies of an old woman
graphite on wove paper, laid down on board 21 x 13.2 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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1900 Visit to the forge
watercolour and gouache
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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1901 Three head studies
black chalk and stumping 21 x 13 cm |
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1902 Portrait of a Woman
graphite on paper
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London |
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1902 Study of a man holding a sketch pad and
box of pencils
graphite on card 10.5 x 7.3 cm |
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1904 A couple conversing
black chalk and black lead 15.4 x 8.9 cm |
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n.d. Alexander Friedrich (Fritz) Werner
charcoal and pastel on paper 41 x 31.5 cm |
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n.d. A man drinking
carpenter's pencil with stumping 22.6 x 14.7 cm
Private Collection |
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n.d. Architectural structure
print 7.2 x 12.6 cm
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA |
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n.d. Artist’s model, seen in back view, putting on an eighteenth-century uniform
drawing 6.4 x 9.2 cm
Mortimer C. Leventritt Fund, Stanford University |
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n.d. Casse
print 17 x 20 cm (image)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA |
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n.d. Chinese women with pheasants
oil on canvas
Alte Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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n.d. Figure of a Man Unbinding His Sash
black chalk, stumped, heightened with white, on brown wove paper 29.2 x 21.9 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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n.d. Flight of stone steps in a garden
graphite 18.6 x 13.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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n.d. Man making a bow
graphite on paper 8.1 x 13.2 cm
© The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London |
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n.d. Man picking fruit, with hand studies
carpenter's pencil 12.7 x 20.3 cm |
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n.d. Man seen from behind in a frock coat
graphite 15.8 x 11 cm |
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n.d. Man with a scythe and two subsiiary studies of the same figure
graphite with touches of chalk 11.5 x 14 cm |
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n.d. Man with toothache
graphite on wove paper 8.9 x 9.2 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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n.d. Portrait of a bearded man looking up
graphite on paper 24.9 x 15.8 cm |
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n.d. Portrait of a woman wearing a hat
graphite 19.5 x 13.5 cm |
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n.d. Profile of a 14-year old girl
graphite with stumping on paper 12.4 x 8 cm |
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n.d. Street scene
graphite on wove paper33.6 x 25.4 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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n.d. Study of a seated man
black chalk and stumping, coloured chalks and charcoal, heightened with white chalk 19.1 x 15 cm |
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n.d. Study of a woman with a fan
graphite 20.6 x 13 cm
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne, Germany |
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n.d. Study of an old man with glasses
black chalk on hand-made paper 12.6 x 8.6 cm
Private Collection |
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n.d. Study of Back and Hands
graphite |
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n.d. Thatched roof with storks' nest
gouache 23.3 x 19.1 cm
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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n.d. The Otto von Wittelsbach Fountain at the Munich Residence
black chalk 20.3 x 12.4 cm |
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n.d. Tree study
graphite on wove paper 22.9 x 26.9 cm
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York |
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n.d. Two swans
gouache 12 x 7.1 cm
Kupferstichkabinett - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany |
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n.d. Woman in a court dress
graphite with stumping 14.3 x 13 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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n.d. Young seated worker
graphite on paper 20.5 x 12.5 cm |
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n.d. Young woman studies
graphite and chalk and stumping 22 x 13.4 cm |
