Lot Essay
Eduard Arnold was one of the most important patrons of the arts in Germany at the beginning of this century. He was a close friend of many of the leading Berlin artists as well as of Hugo von Tschudi, the influential Berlin Museum director, who was the author of the catalogue raisonné on Adolf von Menzel and it may well be that the present work was given to Arnold by the artist. Menzel himself was also a close friend and lived for many years in a house belonging to Arnold. When Arnold sold the house, he did so on condition that it was not to be torn down and that Menzel should continue to live there as long as he wished. In 1920 Zeichnungen von Adolph Menzel, by H. Wolft, was published by Ernst Arnold Verlag. Thanks to Arnold's contribution to commerce, and to the arts (he founded the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome in 1911), he was awarded the honorary title of Geheimrat Arnold.
A connoisseur in every sense of the word, Arnold amassed a large collection of important works by the Old Masters, the German Romantics and the French and German Impressionists. His connoisseurship in every area was held in extremely high regard by the great collectors of the period. Louisine Havemeyer travelled to Berlin in 1914, 'Arriving in Berlin, she spent much time in museums, comparing their Old Masters with her own; of the private collections, the highlight for her was that of Eduard Arnold' (F. Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers, Impressionism Comes to America, New York, 1986, p. 218).
The present work was executed in 1873 when Menzel came to Vienna to visit the World Fair. The years 1850-1875 are considered the middle years of Menzel's artistic development which saw the creation of some of his most ambitious cycles, including his historical paintings about the life of Frederick the Great and, later, the 'Iron Rolling Mill' series (see the catalogue of the exhibition Prints and Drawings by Adolph Menzel, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 16 January-4 March 1984, p. 74).
Increasingly during this period, Menzel began to explore the subject matter of contemporary life around him as he saw it. In this light, Indianercafé auf der Wiener Weltausstellung is an important work in that it illustrates precisely this fascination with the every-day machinations of people in the social arena. It is as equally ambitious as the larger works of this period in its attention to detail although on such a small scale. Using bodycolour, a medium Menzel enjoyed using as it afforded the same kind of fluidity when creating an image either in charcoal or pencil, works on this scale are rare in the artist's oeuvre, the only other comparison being Im Amerikanischen Restaurant auf der Pariser Weltausstellung (see Tschudi, op. cit., no. 131), which was painted during the artist's second Parisian trip in 1867 to attend the World Fair. In his comprehensive catalogue raisonné on the artist, Tschudi recognises the importance of Indianercafé auf der Wiener Weltausstellung in Menzel's vast oeuvre, by acknowledging it in the chronology of the artist's life and work at the front of his 1905 text.
A connoisseur in every sense of the word, Arnold amassed a large collection of important works by the Old Masters, the German Romantics and the French and German Impressionists. His connoisseurship in every area was held in extremely high regard by the great collectors of the period. Louisine Havemeyer travelled to Berlin in 1914, 'Arriving in Berlin, she spent much time in museums, comparing their Old Masters with her own; of the private collections, the highlight for her was that of Eduard Arnold' (F. Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers, Impressionism Comes to America, New York, 1986, p. 218).
The present work was executed in 1873 when Menzel came to Vienna to visit the World Fair. The years 1850-1875 are considered the middle years of Menzel's artistic development which saw the creation of some of his most ambitious cycles, including his historical paintings about the life of Frederick the Great and, later, the 'Iron Rolling Mill' series (see the catalogue of the exhibition Prints and Drawings by Adolph Menzel, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 16 January-4 March 1984, p. 74).
Increasingly during this period, Menzel began to explore the subject matter of contemporary life around him as he saw it. In this light, Indianercafé auf der Wiener Weltausstellung is an important work in that it illustrates precisely this fascination with the every-day machinations of people in the social arena. It is as equally ambitious as the larger works of this period in its attention to detail although on such a small scale. Using bodycolour, a medium Menzel enjoyed using as it afforded the same kind of fluidity when creating an image either in charcoal or pencil, works on this scale are rare in the artist's oeuvre, the only other comparison being Im Amerikanischen Restaurant auf der Pariser Weltausstellung (see Tschudi, op. cit., no. 131), which was painted during the artist's second Parisian trip in 1867 to attend the World Fair. In his comprehensive catalogue raisonné on the artist, Tschudi recognises the importance of Indianercafé auf der Wiener Weltausstellung in Menzel's vast oeuvre, by acknowledging it in the chronology of the artist's life and work at the front of his 1905 text.