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Lot Essay
MENZEL'S ART WAS GREATLY ADMIRED BY THE IMPRESSIONISTS, AND PARTICULARLY BY DEGAS, WHO 'SPOKE...OF MENZEL IN THE MOST LAUDATORY TERMS. HE CONSIDERS HIM TO BE THE GREATEST LIVING PAINTER AND ATTEMPTED TO COPY HIS SUPPER AT THE BALL [DAS BALLSOUPER] FROM MEMORY' (M. LIEBERMANN, DIE PHANTASIE DER MALEREI. SCHRIFTEN UND REDEN, FRANKFURT, 1978, P. 136). INDEED, MENZEL'S AESTHETICS AND TECHNIQUE ARE VERY CLOSE TO THAT OF HIS FRENCH COLLEAGUES, WITH WHOM HE SHARED AN INTENSE PASSION FOR THE DEPICTION OF MODERN LIFE. MOREOVER, MENZEL'S SKILL IN CAPTURING 'SHAPSHOTS' OF THE BOURGEOIS VIE QUOTIDIENNE FOR SOME COMMENTATORS SURPASSED EVEN THE IMPRESSIONISTS': 'WHICH ARTIST WILL NOW RENDER THE IMPOSING GRANDEUR, AND FOLLOW THE WAY OPENED UP BY THE GERMAN MENZEL, BY VENTURING INTO IMMENSE IRONWORKS [A REFERENCE TO MENZEL'S DAS EISENWALZWERK], INTO THE RAILWAY STATIONS THAT M. CLAUDE MONET HAS, IT IS TRUE, ALREADY ATTEMPTED TO PAINT, BUT WITHOUT MANAGING TO BRING OUT IN HIS VAGUE ABBREVIATIONS THE COLOSSAL MAGNITUDE OF THE LOCOMOTIVES AND THEIR SETTING?' (J.K. HUYSMANS, 'L'ART MODERNE', CERTAINS, 10/18, 1889, P. 134).
THE DEPICTION OF PARIS RAILWAY STATIONS WAS AMONG THE IMPRESSIONISTS' FAVOURITE SUBJECTS. MONET WAS FASCINATED BY THE GARE SAINT LAZARE, CELEBRATING IT IN ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS SERIES, AN EXAMPLE FROM WHICH IS L'INTéRIEUR DE LA GARE SAINT LAZARE: LIGNE AUTEUIL (1877, MUSéE D'ORSAY; FIG. 3). IF MONET WAS FASCINATED BY THE GREAT STRUCTURE OF THE STATION AND ITS MONUMETAL IRON PILLARS, RECALLING THE INTERIOR OF FRENCH GOTHIC CHURCHES, MENZEL WAS MORE INSPIRED BY THE DEPICTION OF TRAVEL BY TRAIN AS A MASS PHENOMENON. IN THIS CHOICE, HIS WORKS DISPLAY A CLOSE ICONOGRAPHIC LINK WITH THE WORKS OF HIS CONTEMPORARY VICTORIAN PAINTERS SUCH AS WILLIAM FRITH (FIG. 2) AND AUGUSTUS EGG.
THE ANALYSIS OF MENZEL'S POSITION IN RELATION TO IMPRESSIONISM IS AT THE CORE OF THE MOST RECENT CRITICAL DEBATE ON THE ARTIST. ON ONE SIDE: 'IN THEIR ANALYSIS OF MENZEL'S LIFE AND WORK, ART HISTORIANS... AGREE ON THE KEY ROLE PARIS PLAYED IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CENTRE OF ARTISTIC CREATION THAT LEFT A MARK ON MENZEL'S DEVELOPMENT' (T.W. GAEHTGENS, IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION BETWEEN ROMANTICISM AND IMPRESSIONISM, MUSéE D'ORSAY, 1996, P. 113). ON THE OTHER SIDE, ONE CANNOT SIMPLY CALL MENZEL A 'PRE-IMPRESSIONIST', CONSIDERING THE MULTIFARIOUS COMPONENTS HIS STYLE, FROM REALISM, TO ROMANTICISM, TO A VERY ORIGINAL IMPRESSIONISM. MENZEL'S APPROACH TO NATURE IS CERTAINLY REALISTIC, BUT 'INDIZIEN FR DIE HYPOTHESE, DAS MENZEL DIE AUSBLICKE AUF REALITäT NACH EINEM KUNSTIDEAL SUBJEKTIV AUSWäHLT, SIND SEINE UNGEWöHNLICHE SEHWEISE, DIE VERäNDERUNG ODER WERTENDE AUSWAHL VON WIRKLICHKEIT DURCH UNBLICHE PERSPEKTIVEN, FRAGMENTIERUNG DES ZUSAMMENGEHöRENDEN UND INTERPRETIERENDER EINSATZ VON FARBE, LICHT UND FORMEN' (E. VON RADZIEWSKY, 'MENZEL - EIN REALIST?', IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION MENZEL DER BEOBACHTER, 1982, P. 18).
WHAT MOST IMPRESSED DEGAS WAS MENZEL'S EXTRAORDINARY SKILL AS A DRAUGHTSMAN - A SKILL WHICH ABOUNDS IN THE PRESENT WORK. AS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, DRAWING HELD A POSITION OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN HIS OEUVRE FROM THE OUTSET AND HIS ADVOCACY OF THE MEDIUM WAS FOUNDED ON ITS UNPARALLELED ABILITY, AS HE SAW IT, TO CAPTURE THE MOMENTARY AND FLEETING ASPECTS OF NATURE. HE PROVED HIMSELF ITS WORTHY SERVANT WITH A BODY OF METICULOUS, INNOVATIVE SKETCHES AND FINISHED COMPOSITIONS. A PREPARATORY DRAWING OF THE HAND AND THE HEAD OF THE SLEEPING MAN IN THE CENTRE OF THE PRESENT PICTURE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MENZEL'S OBSESSIVE ZEAL IN PREPARING FOR HIS PICTURES (PRIVATE COLLECTION, HAMBURG; FIG. 4) .
BY THE MID-1880S MENZEL CEASED WORKING IN OIL AND, FROM 1895 ONWARD, HE WORKED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN WATERCOLOUR AND GOUACHE. THE GREATER EASE WITH WHICH GOUACHE CAN BE WORKED AND, THEREFORE, ITS SUITABILITY FOR MORE RAPID WORK WHICH STILL RETAINS A STRENGTH OF COLOUR AND A CAPACITY FOR DETAIL, ALL APPEALED TO MENZEL'S STYLE. HIS IMPRESSIVE MASTERY OF DRAUGHTSMANSHIP AND THE TRANSITORY, MOREOVER, IS MANIFEST IN HIS STRIKING SELF-PORTRAIT OF 1876 (FIG. 1), ABOUT WHICH PETER-KLAUS SCHUSTER HAS WRITTEN IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE 1996 EXHIBITION: 'FRAGMENTED FORMS ARE COMMON IN MENZEL'S WORK OCCUPYING HIS ATTENTION WELL INTO THE LAST DRAWINGS. IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT HE SAW IN THE FRAGMENT THE MOST LOGICAL WAY TO MAKE VISIBLE THE MOMENTARY...INDEED HAD NOT PHOTOGRAPHY CALLED SUCH AN ART INTO QUESTION?' (OP. CIT., 1996, P. 130).
SCHUSTER'S ANALYSIS BRINGS INTO FOCUS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING ASPECTS OF MENZEL'S ART AND THE VERY BASIS OF HIS MODERNITY: HIS UNIQUE WAY OF FRAMING HIS SUBJECTS. AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCHöNE NATUR IS CERTAINLY ONE THE BEST EXAMPLES OF MENZEL'S EXTREMELY ORIGINAL CADRAGE, REVELLING IN BOTH VERISIMILTUDE AND ORIGINALITY. AS SCHUSTER POINTS OUT, THE VIEWER OF MENZEL'S WORKS IS CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF PHOTOGRAPHY. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THOUGH, MENZEL, UNLIKE DEGAS, NEVER VALUED THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE, CONSIDERING IT INFERIOR TO PAINTING BECAUSE OF ITS MECHANICAL OBJECTIVITY.
AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCöNE NATUR IS AN OUTSTANDING TOUR DE FORCE. THE EXUBERANT PORTRAYAL OF THE TRAIN'S DEMI-MONDE BECOMES A VISUAL METAPHOR OF THE FEVERISH VITALITY OF MODERN LIFE AS IT DIVERGES EVER FURTHER FROM ITS RURAL ROOTS, AND, AS WERNER HOFMANN SUGGESTS (OP. CIT., 1982), IT RECALLS THE UNCANNY SOCIAL CRITICISM OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH'S BOOT DER ZOTTEN (THE SHIP OF FOOLS).
BY VIRTUE OF ITS EXTRAORDINARY ART HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE AND ITS RARITY, THIS WORK ENJOYS A PRE-EMINENT POSITION IN MENZEL'S OEUVRE, A POSITION RECOGNISED BY ITS PROMINENCE IN THE LITERATURE ON THE ARTIST. THIS IS EVEN MORE REMARKABLE WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THAT AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCHöNE NATUR HAS BEEN VERY RARELY EXHIBITED, REMAINING IN THE SAME DISCREET PRIVATE COLLECTION FOR THE LAST FIFTY YEARS (FIG. 5).
THE DEPICTION OF PARIS RAILWAY STATIONS WAS AMONG THE IMPRESSIONISTS' FAVOURITE SUBJECTS. MONET WAS FASCINATED BY THE GARE SAINT LAZARE, CELEBRATING IT IN ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS SERIES, AN EXAMPLE FROM WHICH IS L'INTéRIEUR DE LA GARE SAINT LAZARE: LIGNE AUTEUIL (1877, MUSéE D'ORSAY; FIG. 3). IF MONET WAS FASCINATED BY THE GREAT STRUCTURE OF THE STATION AND ITS MONUMETAL IRON PILLARS, RECALLING THE INTERIOR OF FRENCH GOTHIC CHURCHES, MENZEL WAS MORE INSPIRED BY THE DEPICTION OF TRAVEL BY TRAIN AS A MASS PHENOMENON. IN THIS CHOICE, HIS WORKS DISPLAY A CLOSE ICONOGRAPHIC LINK WITH THE WORKS OF HIS CONTEMPORARY VICTORIAN PAINTERS SUCH AS WILLIAM FRITH (FIG. 2) AND AUGUSTUS EGG.
THE ANALYSIS OF MENZEL'S POSITION IN RELATION TO IMPRESSIONISM IS AT THE CORE OF THE MOST RECENT CRITICAL DEBATE ON THE ARTIST. ON ONE SIDE: 'IN THEIR ANALYSIS OF MENZEL'S LIFE AND WORK, ART HISTORIANS... AGREE ON THE KEY ROLE PARIS PLAYED IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CENTRE OF ARTISTIC CREATION THAT LEFT A MARK ON MENZEL'S DEVELOPMENT' (T.W. GAEHTGENS, IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION BETWEEN ROMANTICISM AND IMPRESSIONISM, MUSéE D'ORSAY, 1996, P. 113). ON THE OTHER SIDE, ONE CANNOT SIMPLY CALL MENZEL A 'PRE-IMPRESSIONIST', CONSIDERING THE MULTIFARIOUS COMPONENTS HIS STYLE, FROM REALISM, TO ROMANTICISM, TO A VERY ORIGINAL IMPRESSIONISM. MENZEL'S APPROACH TO NATURE IS CERTAINLY REALISTIC, BUT 'INDIZIEN FR DIE HYPOTHESE, DAS MENZEL DIE AUSBLICKE AUF REALITäT NACH EINEM KUNSTIDEAL SUBJEKTIV AUSWäHLT, SIND SEINE UNGEWöHNLICHE SEHWEISE, DIE VERäNDERUNG ODER WERTENDE AUSWAHL VON WIRKLICHKEIT DURCH UNBLICHE PERSPEKTIVEN, FRAGMENTIERUNG DES ZUSAMMENGEHöRENDEN UND INTERPRETIERENDER EINSATZ VON FARBE, LICHT UND FORMEN' (E. VON RADZIEWSKY, 'MENZEL - EIN REALIST?', IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION MENZEL DER BEOBACHTER, 1982, P. 18).
WHAT MOST IMPRESSED DEGAS WAS MENZEL'S EXTRAORDINARY SKILL AS A DRAUGHTSMAN - A SKILL WHICH ABOUNDS IN THE PRESENT WORK. AS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, DRAWING HELD A POSITION OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN HIS OEUVRE FROM THE OUTSET AND HIS ADVOCACY OF THE MEDIUM WAS FOUNDED ON ITS UNPARALLELED ABILITY, AS HE SAW IT, TO CAPTURE THE MOMENTARY AND FLEETING ASPECTS OF NATURE. HE PROVED HIMSELF ITS WORTHY SERVANT WITH A BODY OF METICULOUS, INNOVATIVE SKETCHES AND FINISHED COMPOSITIONS. A PREPARATORY DRAWING OF THE HAND AND THE HEAD OF THE SLEEPING MAN IN THE CENTRE OF THE PRESENT PICTURE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MENZEL'S OBSESSIVE ZEAL IN PREPARING FOR HIS PICTURES (PRIVATE COLLECTION, HAMBURG; FIG. 4) .
BY THE MID-1880S MENZEL CEASED WORKING IN OIL AND, FROM 1895 ONWARD, HE WORKED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN WATERCOLOUR AND GOUACHE. THE GREATER EASE WITH WHICH GOUACHE CAN BE WORKED AND, THEREFORE, ITS SUITABILITY FOR MORE RAPID WORK WHICH STILL RETAINS A STRENGTH OF COLOUR AND A CAPACITY FOR DETAIL, ALL APPEALED TO MENZEL'S STYLE. HIS IMPRESSIVE MASTERY OF DRAUGHTSMANSHIP AND THE TRANSITORY, MOREOVER, IS MANIFEST IN HIS STRIKING SELF-PORTRAIT OF 1876 (FIG. 1), ABOUT WHICH PETER-KLAUS SCHUSTER HAS WRITTEN IN THE CATALOGUE OF THE 1996 EXHIBITION: 'FRAGMENTED FORMS ARE COMMON IN MENZEL'S WORK OCCUPYING HIS ATTENTION WELL INTO THE LAST DRAWINGS. IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT HE SAW IN THE FRAGMENT THE MOST LOGICAL WAY TO MAKE VISIBLE THE MOMENTARY...INDEED HAD NOT PHOTOGRAPHY CALLED SUCH AN ART INTO QUESTION?' (OP. CIT., 1996, P. 130).
SCHUSTER'S ANALYSIS BRINGS INTO FOCUS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING ASPECTS OF MENZEL'S ART AND THE VERY BASIS OF HIS MODERNITY: HIS UNIQUE WAY OF FRAMING HIS SUBJECTS. AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCHöNE NATUR IS CERTAINLY ONE THE BEST EXAMPLES OF MENZEL'S EXTREMELY ORIGINAL CADRAGE, REVELLING IN BOTH VERISIMILTUDE AND ORIGINALITY. AS SCHUSTER POINTS OUT, THE VIEWER OF MENZEL'S WORKS IS CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF PHOTOGRAPHY. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THOUGH, MENZEL, UNLIKE DEGAS, NEVER VALUED THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE, CONSIDERING IT INFERIOR TO PAINTING BECAUSE OF ITS MECHANICAL OBJECTIVITY.
AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCöNE NATUR IS AN OUTSTANDING TOUR DE FORCE. THE EXUBERANT PORTRAYAL OF THE TRAIN'S DEMI-MONDE BECOMES A VISUAL METAPHOR OF THE FEVERISH VITALITY OF MODERN LIFE AS IT DIVERGES EVER FURTHER FROM ITS RURAL ROOTS, AND, AS WERNER HOFMANN SUGGESTS (OP. CIT., 1982), IT RECALLS THE UNCANNY SOCIAL CRITICISM OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH'S BOOT DER ZOTTEN (THE SHIP OF FOOLS).
BY VIRTUE OF ITS EXTRAORDINARY ART HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE AND ITS RARITY, THIS WORK ENJOYS A PRE-EMINENT POSITION IN MENZEL'S OEUVRE, A POSITION RECOGNISED BY ITS PROMINENCE IN THE LITERATURE ON THE ARTIST. THIS IS EVEN MORE REMARKABLE WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THAT AUF DER FAHRT DURCH SCHöNE NATUR HAS BEEN VERY RARELY EXHIBITED, REMAINING IN THE SAME DISCREET PRIVATE COLLECTION FOR THE LAST FIFTY YEARS (FIG. 5).