Study of a Garment Adolph Menzel

With bold strokes, Adolph Menzel models the heavy folds of fabric draped around the figure’s body. The face remains concealed; the hands and body are merely hinted at. Menzel’s entire focus is on the garment: the interplay of deep shadows and brightly lit folds, the weight of the fabric and its movement. Dark areas and sparingly applied light and reddish accents lend the depiction a remarkable sense of three-dimensionality. This study of the robe, created in 1852, is linked to Menzel’s depiction of the twelve-year-old Christ in the Temple. The starting point was the pastel dated 1851, ‘The Christ Child in the Temple (Jesus among the Scribes)’, which is now in the Hamburg Kunsthalle. Menzel produced several preparatory studies for a planned large-format version; this drawing served to develop the figure of the Virgin. In the summer of 1852, he also reproduced the composition as a schabkunst lithograph. This focus on a single detail is characteristic of Menzel’s working method. The fabric and drapery are examined in detail for their visual effect. Light accents highlight individual folds, whilst the dark areas create depth and volume. The line, which remains unfilled in places, preserves the immediate character of the study. The sheet has a special history due to its provenance. It was part of the collection of Max Liebermann, who held Menzel in the highest regard. In 1926, Liebermann loaned the drawing to the ‘Exhibition of Older and More Recent Berlin Art’ in Nuremberg; in 1929, it was on display at the exhibition ‘A Hundred Years of Berlin Art in the Work of the Association of Berlin Artists’ in Berlin. It later entered the collection of the art historian and museum director Eberhard Hanfstaengl. Thus, the drawing not only offers direct insight into Menzel’s drawing process; having subsequently been part of Max Liebermann’s collection, it also has a remarkable collection history. | 1815 Breslau – Berlin 1905 | 19. Jahrhundert | Arbeiten auf Papier | Nummer: 26x2017 | Provenance: Sammlung Otto Herrmann Claass (1849-1934); Galerie Paul Cassirer/Helbing, Berlin/München, 21.11.1916, Nr. 223; Max Liebermann, Berlin (bis mindestens 1926); Sammlung Dr. Eberhard Hanfstaengl, München; Hauswedell&Nolte, 9./10.6.1983, Los 970; Privatsammlung, Norddeutschland.

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