We would like to thank Dr. Manfred Großkinsky, Karlsruhe, for confirming the authenticity of the painting and for kindly providing additional information..
Exhibition
Kunst- und Gewerbe-Ausstellung für das Großherzogthum Baden zu Karlsruhe, 1877, group XVII, cat.-no. 4 („Wandschmuck für das Lokal des Künstlervereins")
Literature and illustration
Auction 1209: Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Skulpturen 14.-19. Jh. Cologne, Lempertz, 19.11.2022, cat. no. 1735, ill. („Landschaft mit Burgruine") / Auction 1221: 19. Jahrhundert. Cologne, Lempertz, 20.5.2023, cat. no. 2296, ill.
In contrast to the contemporary trend, Bracht did not depict an event of historical relevance with dramatic moments of action that fascinate through narrative staging and utilises the landscape as a stage. In terms of motif, he merely created a temporal distance with the staffage and the ruins; atmospherically, however, he expected the charging of the landscape with a historical dimension to sharpen the view and appreciation of unspectacular regions, as he knew them from the Lüneburg Heath, the Hümmling and the Eifel. By deliberately leaving the viewer in the dark about the context of the content, Bracht stimulates the viewer's imagination and mental engagement with the depiction of the landscape.
Bracht noted the following about this work in his register book: ‘Wall decoration for the Local des Künstler Vereins / Motif from the Eifel (Ruin of Dreieichenhain)’. In addition to the function and destination, he documented his ideas for topography and architectural motifs, which he used to bring together nature and culture in a naturalistic landscape. Sketches with Eifel motifs have not survived. However, Bracht had already captured the ruins in an inked pencil drawing during a day trip to Dreieichenhain north of his home town of Darmstadt in 1859. The drawing in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe shows the interior wall of the former hall, seen from the east, with a vaulted corridor leading to the kitchen, the assembly room and a staircase to the upper floor. He presented the work at the ‘Kunst= und Gewerbe=Ausstellung für das Großherzogthum Baden’ in the summer of 1877 before handing it over to the Verein bildender Künstler in Karlsruhe. Manfred Großkinsky
„Wand-Decoration für das Local des Künstler Vereins (Ruine von Dreieichenhain)“. 1877
Oil on canvas. 134 × 94 cm
(52 ¾ × 37 in.). Signed and dated lower left: Eugen Bracht 1877. Catalogue raisonné: Catalogue raisonné: The work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of Eugen Bracht by Dr. Manfred Großkinsky, Karlsruhe (in preparation). [3003] Framed
Provenance
Private Collection, Karlsruhe (acquired same place in 1952 and thence by descent to the present owner)
We would like to thank Dr. Manfred Großkinsky, Karlsruhe, for confirming the authenticity of the painting and for kindly providing additional information..
Exhibition
Kunst- und Gewerbe-Ausstellung für das Großherzogthum Baden zu Karlsruhe, 1877, group XVII, cat.-no. 4 („Wandschmuck für das Lokal des Künstlervereins")
Literature and illustration
Auction 1209: Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Skulpturen 14.-19. Jh. Cologne, Lempertz, 19.11.2022, cat. no. 1735, ill. („Landschaft mit Burgruine") / Auction 1221: 19. Jahrhundert. Cologne, Lempertz, 20.5.2023, cat. no. 2296, ill.
In contrast to the contemporary trend, Bracht did not depict an event of historical relevance with dramatic moments of action that fascinate through narrative staging and utilises the landscape as a stage. In terms of motif, he merely created a temporal distance with the staffage and the ruins; atmospherically, however, he expected the charging of the landscape with a historical dimension to sharpen the view and appreciation of unspectacular regions, as he knew them from the Lüneburg Heath, the Hümmling and the Eifel. By deliberately leaving the viewer in the dark about the context of the content, Bracht stimulates the viewer's imagination and mental engagement with the depiction of the landscape.
Bracht noted the following about this work in his register book: ‘Wall decoration for the Local des Künstler Vereins / Motif from the Eifel (Ruin of Dreieichenhain)’. In addition to the function and destination, he documented his ideas for topography and architectural motifs, which he used to bring together nature and culture in a naturalistic landscape. Sketches with Eifel motifs have not survived. However, Bracht had already captured the ruins in an inked pencil drawing during a day trip to Dreieichenhain north of his home town of Darmstadt in 1859. The drawing in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe shows the interior wall of the former hall, seen from the east, with a vaulted corridor leading to the kitchen, the assembly room and a staircase to the upper floor. He presented the work at the ‘Kunst= und Gewerbe=Ausstellung für das Großherzogthum Baden’ in the summer of 1877 before handing it over to the Verein bildender Künstler in Karlsruhe. Manfred Großkinsky
