Four illustrations for Goethe's Wilhelm Tischbeins Idyllen: 1. Weidennymphe (Willow Nymph) 2. Taubennymphe (Dove nymph) 3. Die Nebelnymphen (Mist numphs) 4. Aurora

Details

Four illustrations for Goethe's Wilhelm Tischbeins Idyllen:
1. Weidennymphe (Willow Nymph)
2. Taubennymphe (Dove nymph)
3. Die Nebelnymphen (Mist numphs)
4. Aurora
black chalk (1-2), pen and brown ink (1-3), grey wash (1-2), watercolor (1-3), heightened with white (1-2), on milled paper (1, 3-4), in a contemporary mount (1)
13 3/8 x 10 3/8 in. (339 x 262 mm.); 14½ x 13 in. (366 x 328 mm.); 15 5/8 x 13¼ in. (397 x 336 mm.); 8¼ x 5¼ in. (209 x 132 mm.); and An etching of reclining nymph (Idyllen 19, Andresen 10) (5)

Lot Essay

The compositions are related to Tischbein's pictures for the Oldenburg Idyllenzyklus, delivered to Duke Peter of Oldenburg in 1821. Tischbein sent Goethe watercolors of these compositions in May 1821, and he used them as the starting point for his verse cycle Wilhelm Tischbeins Idyllen.
(4) Illustrated in plate III, p. 134.

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