Wilhelm von Kobell 1766 Mannheim – München 1853 Upper Bavarian landscape with cows and shepherdesses

Watercolour and pen and black ink, over pencil, on wove, laid down on thin cardboard. (c. 1803). 14.9 x 22.7 cm. With a borderline in black pen and ink.

Period

19th century

Technique

Works on paper

Details

Wichmann 714.

Literatur:
Siegfried Wichmann, Wilhelm von Kobell. Monographie und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke, München 1970, S. 303, Kat.-Nr. 714, mit Abb. S. 302.

Provenienz:
Sammlung Artaria, Wien, Carl Artaria (1792-1866) gab 1829 einen Nachstich (seitenverkehrt) des Blattes heraus;
Sammlung Dr. Karl Voll, München;
Hellmuth Wallach (1901-1989);
Karl & Faber, München, Auktion 100, 17.5.1966, Los 181, mit farb. Abb;
Privatbesitz;
Privatsammlung, Süddeutschland.

Description

Right after the turn of the century, Wilhelm von Kobell created small scenes that take place in front of Munich’s city skyline, as seen here from the south. A boy with a much too large tricorn hat and a rod in his hand is tending the grazing cattle, which seem to remain motionless and timeless in the shallow waters of the Isar meadows. The parallel, somewhat rigid arrangement of the animals in the foreground, which can be found in other watercolours from 1803, is new. In the 1820s/30s, Kobell then turned to a new type of picture, which was later labelled an “encounter picture”, as it shows the encounter between soldiers and the rural population or townspeople. – Isolated faint brown stains. Paper slightly thinned in the upper right corner and in places in the lower margin. Fresh colours and beautifully preserved.