Berlin - Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Mixed media on canvas

mixed media

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

Acrylic on canvas

Acrylic on canvas

Acrylic and pastel chalk on canvas

Acrylic on canvas

Body in the Field #3, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

Laboratory_Journal_Day 00200, 2022 black ink on white paper 27 9/16 H x 39 3/8 W cm 70 H x 100 W cm The drawings signed by Alina Aldea show the meticulousness and perfection of micr...

Body in the Field #8, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

The Dreamcatcher, 2022 collage on paper 46 H x 37.5 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of...

The Headless Soldier, 2022 collage, tempera, spray on paper 50 H x 35 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Samurai, 2021 Collage on paper 50.4 H x 35 W cm Signed on the right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Body in the Field #2, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

Paper Mill, 2022 collage on paper 50 H x 35 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Flight, 2022 collage on paper 35 H x 50 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces ...

Portrait II, 2022 Collage, tempera on paper 29.5 H x 21 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Laboratory_Journal_Day 00204, 2022 black ink on white paper 27 9/16 H x 39 3/8 W cm 70 H x 100 W cm The drawings signed by Alina Aldea show the meticulousness and perfection of micr...

Body in the Field #1, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

Mayall's Object, 2022 Collage on paper 22 H x 18.5 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Body in the Field #9, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

Hoag's Object, 2022 collage on paper 30 H x 30 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

The Triangle Galaxy, 2022 Collage on paper 22 H x 18.5 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

Body in the Field #11, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of ...

The Character from the Mirror, 2022 Collage, tempera on paper 29.5 H x 21 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper, textiles, pieces of plastic, found or made objects, which intertwine on the paper support and as in a well-controlled and thought puzzle give birth to a new universe. The new series of collages...

The Whale Hunter, 2022 collage, tempera on paper 70 H x 50 W cm Signed in the middle on the right side Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and su...

Julius Paul Junghanns (1876 Vienna - 1958 Düsseldorf), Draft Horse with Cart. Charcoal drawing on paper, 23 x 23 cm (inside measurement), 49 x 50 cm (fram...

Wounded Soldier, 2022 collage on paper 46 H x 31 W cm Signed on the right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by...

Tree, 2022 collage on paper 40 H x 30.5 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of...

Tree II, 2022 collage on paper 40 H x 30.5 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands...

The Pilgrim, 2022 collage, tempera, ink on paper 56.5 H x 40.5 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pie...

The Librarian, 2022 collage on paper 61.5 H x 56 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands o...

The Reaper, 2022 collage, tempera on paper 56.5 H x 40.5 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and...

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 ...

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...

Capricorn, 2022 collage, colour wax on paper 46 H x 37.5 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populate...

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)...

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...

Portrait, 2022 Collage on paper 29.5 H x 21 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pie...

Waves, 2022 collage on paper 30.5 H x 40 W cm Signed on reverse Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces...

The Scientist, 2022 collage, spray on paper 50 H x 35 W cm Signed on right side down Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated b...

The Cartographer, 2021 collage on paper 50 H x 35 W cm Raluca Arnăutu dreams the world through collages. A collage, dreamlike and surreal, populated by thousands of pieces of paper,...

Remains (Body in the Field 2), 2022 oil on paper 16 17/32 H x 11 13/16 W in. 42 H x 30 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body...

Body in the Field #12, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of ...

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...

Arthur Claude Strachan (1865 Edinburgh - 1954 Minehead), Evening Cottage Scene. Watercolor on paper, mounted, 28 x 46 cm (visible size), 48 x 65 cm (fra...

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 Eglau (1917 Berlin - 1988 Kampen), Raft Landscape in Sweden, 1956. Watercolor and ink on paper, 45 x 60 cm, signed in his own hand lower right with "Eglau" and dated "[19]56". - somewhat darkened Exposé as PDF - Temporary structures - About the artwork A wide river landscape stretches out before us, its horizon line running across the upper part of the picture, creating the impression of enormous depth. The depth is further extended by the dark tree trunks, most of which spill into the picture, and at the same time rhythmized by their different positions. This sequence of movements gives the landscape a strong dynamic moment. Indeed, the landscape seems to be "fleeing" from beneath us. To keep the gaze on the foreground alone requires a real visual effort. By looking at the foreground, we have already arrived at the background. Therefore, we cannot speak of pictorial grounds in the classical sense. Rather, we are confronted with a structurally rhythmic continuum of space, the dynamics of which are further accelerated by the cut tree trunks in the foreground and the upright trunks in the background, which function as target marks. Since the narrow strip of sky has the same white tonality as the ice, this area also fits seamlessly into the spatial structure, so that a deserted "structural landscape" unfolds before us. The structure, however, is not - as in the case of Piet Mondrian - completely abstract and thus something that exists independently of itself, removed from the time of natural space. The structures that Otto Eglau discovered in nature remain bound to it, which is why they exhibit a temporality that corresponds to the 'course of things'. Even if they correspond to an architecture of nature brought to representation, the structures are not substantial, but contingent. Artistically uncovered, they present themselves to Eglau at the very moment he captures them. In nature itself, these structures will never be repeated in the same way. Panta rhei - everything flows, even if the flow of time is frozen by his artistic representation and the image, for all its dynamism, radiates calm at the same time. "The structures I put behind things, and the lines that hold my paintings, are signs of transient life. They are random like the trace a wave leaves in the sand, blurred like the border between sea and land, ephemeral like the life of a shell I hold in my hand." - Otto Eglau About the artist After his release from captivity in 1947, Otto Eglau studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. He was a student of Oskar Nerlinger, Max Kaus and Wolf Hoffmann. From 1953 he taught free drawing for architects at the Technical University of Berlin. In the years that followed, Eglau undertook numerous study trips that took him to Scandinavia, the Arab world, the Far East and even Macau. During these travels he cultivated the technique of watercolour, which allowed him to work quickly in the open air, while retaining a strong painterly quality. Scholarships enabled Eglau to stay in Japan from 1962 to 1963 and in Naples in 1970. From 1969 to 1976 Eglau was professor of etching at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg. Between 1983 and 1988 Eglau worked simultaneously in his Berlin studio at Lietzensee, which had its own printing press, and in his studio in Kampen on the island of Sylt. Otto Eglau's work has been shown in more than 100 solo exhibitions worldwide and in more than 120 group exhibitions. "I love the vastness of the island. The mudflats off Kampen are my treasure trove; here I discover new shapes and colors every day. Without Sylt, I would be like a fish without water." - Otto Eglau Selected Bibliography Hanns Theodor Flemming: Otto Eglau. Das graphische Werk, Flensburg 1966. Heinrich Seemann (Einführung): Otto Eglau. Inselskizzen, Hamburg 1982. Heinrich Seemann (Einführung): Otto Eglau. Japan, Nepal, Sylt. Aquarelle. Zeichen und Strukturen. Einführung von Heinrich Seemann, Hamburg 1986. Otto Eglau: Watt-Tagebuch. Ausgewählte Aquarelle aus den Skizzenbüchern Otto Eglaus. Kampen 1996. GERMAN VERSION Otto Eglau (1917 Berlin – 1988 Kampen), Floßlandschaft in Schweden, 1956. Aquarell und Tusche auf Papier, 45 x 60 cm, unten rechts eigenhändig in Blei mit „Eglau“ signiert und mit „[19]56“ datiert. - etwas nachgedunkelt Exposé als PDF - Temporäre Strukturen - zum Werk Vor uns erstreckt sich eine weite Flusslandschaft, deren Horizontline im oberen Bereich des Bildes verläuft, wodurch der Eindruck einer enormen Tiefenerstreckung entsteht. Die Tiefe wird von den dunklen, zumeist ins Bild hineinfluchtenden Baumstämmen zusätzlich geweitet und – durch ihre verschiedenartigen Lagen – dabei zugleich rhythmisiert. Durch diese Bewegungsabfolge weist die Landschaft ein starkes dynamisches Moment auf. Und tatsächlich stellt sich der Eindruck ein, als ob die Landschaft unter uns ‚hinwegfluchten‘ würde. Den Blick einzig im Vordergrund zu halten, verlangt regelrecht eine visuelle Anstrengung. Auf den Vordergrund schauend sind wir bereits im Hintergrund angelangt. Daher kann gar nicht von Bildgründen im klassischen Sinne gesprochen werden. Vielmehr steht hier ein strukturell rhythmisiertes Raumkontinuum vor Augen, dessen Dynamik von den angeschnittenen Baumstämmen vorne und den als Zielmarken fungierenden aufgerichteten Stämmen hinten zusätzlich beschleunigt wird. Da der schmale Himmelstreifen dieselbe Weißtonalität wie die Wasserlandschaft aufweist, fügt sich auch dieser Bereich bruchlos in das Raumgefüge ein, so dass sich vor uns eine menschenleere ‚Strukturlandschaft‘ ausbreitet. Die Struktur ist aber nicht – wie dies bei Piet Mondrian der Fall ist – gänzlich abstrakt und dadurch etwas eigenständig für sich Bestehendes, das der Zeit des Naturraums enthoben ist. Die von Otto Eglau in der Natur entdecken Strukturen bleiben an diese zurückgebunden, weshalb sie eine dem ‚Lauf der Dinge‘ entsprechende Temporalität aufweisen. Auch wenn sie einer zur Darstellung gebrachten Architektur der Natur entsprechen, sind die Strukturen nichts Substanzielles, sondern kontingent. Künstlerisch aufgedeckt, bieten sie sich Eglau in eben jenem Moment dar, den er festhält. In der Natur selbst werden diese Strukturen niemals in derselben Art wiederkehren. Panta rhei – alles fließt, auch wenn sich der Fluss der Zeit durch seine künstlerische Darstellung verfestigt hat, wodurch das Bild – trotz aller Dynamik – zugleich auch Ruhe ausstrahlt. „Die Strukturen, die ich hinter die Dinge setze, und die Linien, die meine Bilder halten, sind Zeichen des vergänglichen Lebens. Sie sind zufällig wie die Spur, die eine Welle im Sand hinterlässt, unscharf wie die Grenze zwischen Meer und Land, vergänglich wie das Leben einer Muschel, die ich in der Hand halte.“ - Otto Eglau zum Künstler Nach seiner Entlassung aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft 1947 nahm Otto Eglau ein Studium an der Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin auf. Dort war wer Schüler von Oskar Nerlinger, Max Kaus und Wolf Hoffmann. Ab 1953 unterrichtete er freies Zeichnen für Architekten an der Technischen Universität Berlin. In den Folgejahren unternahm Eglau zahlreiche Studienreisen, die ihn nach Skandinavien, in den arabischen Raum, nach Fernost und bis nach Macau führten. Auf diesen Fahrten kultivierte er die Technik des Aquarellierens, die eine zügige Bildschöpfung im Freiraum erlaubt und dennoch eine stark malerische Qualität aufweist. Stipendien ermöglichten es Eglau, sich von 1962 bis 1963 in Japan aufzuhalten und 1970 länger in Neapel zu verweilen. Von 1969 bis 1976 hatte Eglau die Professur für Radierung an der Internationalen Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst in Salzburg inne. Zwischen 1983 und 1988 war Eglau parallel in seinem Berliner Atelier am...

Body in the Field #6, 2022 coloured pencils on canvas 25 H x 16 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...

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...

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...

The Water, 2023 collage on paper 46 H x 37.5 W cm Signed on the right side down This artwork has also a text wrote by the artist. "Beyond the smooth surface of the water, silence ...

The Love, 2023 collage on paper 46 H x 37.5 W cm Signed on right side down The artist wrote a text regarding this artwork. "The table. On the table's glass, a hexagonal trace. The...

The War, 2023 collage on paper 46 H x 37.5 W cm Signed on right side down The artist wrote a text for this artwork. "I am looking out of the window. Beyond,...

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...

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 ...

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...

Untitled_Dead Body on the Field #2, 2022 coloured pencils on paper 39 3/8 H x 27 9/16 W inches 100 H x 70 W cm Signed on reverse Zsolt Berszán embodies in ...