Selten hat man Adolph Menzel ohne eines seiner Skizzenbücher angetroffen. Zeit seines Lebens hielt er unzählige Alltagsszenen in kleinen Heften fest, die sich heute im Berliner Kupferstichkabinett befinden. Der hochwertige Reprint eines dieser Skizzenbücher lässt den Betrachter erleben, wie sicher und eindringlich der Künstler Mensch, Natur und Leben zu skizzieren vermochte. Das unverwechselbare Ingenium des Künstlers macht diese Blätter zu kleinen Meisterwerken, erhöht sie zu lyrisch-spontanen Bildern des privaten Lebens mit Verwandten und Freunden. Seine poetischen Darstellungen der Schwester Emilie sind der liebenswerteste Ausdruck von Vetrautheit und Zuneigung, die die Familienmitglieder zeitlebens verband. Aber auch viel Sehenswertes aus dem Berlin der 1840er Jahre hielt Menzel zeichnerisch fest, seien es Tierstudien, Musiker beim Spiel oder Stadtszenen. Die Studien zeigen dieselbe Formensprache und Sensibilität, denen auch das malerische Schaffen Adolph Menzels seine bleibende Faszination verdankt. Die Zeichnung hat er jedoch besonders bevorzugt und es darin zu einer Perfektion gebracht, die im 19. Jahrhundert nur wenige Parallelen findet.
Menzel nearly always carried a sketchbook with him, capturing countless scenes of every-day life in the small booklets, which are today kept in the Berlin engravings cabinet. This beautiful reprint of one of these sketchbooks shows the artist’s ability to capture people, nature, and life in his sketches. The small masterpieces, lyrically-spontaneous images of his private life with relatives and friends reflect Menzel’s unmistakable genius. His poetic portraits of his sister Emilie are a loving expression of the familiarity and affection that existed between the family members. Images of Berlin in the 1840s were also captured, such as animal studies, musicians or city scenes. The studies show the same style and sensitivity that also characterises Adolph Menzel’s paintings. The perfection of his preferred drawings has few parallels in 19th century art.
Menzel nearly always carried a sketchbook with him, capturing countless scenes of every-day life in the small booklets, which are today kept in the Berlin engravings cabinet. This beautiful reprint of one of these sketchbooks shows the artist’s ability to capture people, nature, and life in his sketches. The small masterpieces, lyrically-spontaneous images of his private life with relatives and friends reflect Menzel’s unmistakable genius. His poetic portraits of his sister Emilie are a loving expression of the familiarity and affection that existed between the family members. Images of Berlin in the 1840s were also captured, such as animal studies, musicians or city scenes. The studies show the same style and sensitivity that also characterises Adolph Menzel’s paintings. The perfection of his preferred drawings has few parallels in 19th century art.