Bringing the Cattle Down from Pasture, 1830

Cattle and pasture scenes were among the preferred motifs of the Biedermeier painter Friedrich Gauermann (1807–1862) in the 1820s. From 1825 onward, he increasingly relocated these bucolic scenes, inspired by 17th century Dutch painting, from the area surrounding his hometown of Miesenbach in Lower Austria to the Salzkammergut region. A gnarled tree emphasizes the middle axis of the painting. To the left, the cattle is driven down from pasture, with a mountain range in the background. The right side of the painting is dominated by large deciduous trees. No details are executed in this washed pen-and-ink drawing. The artist captures the scene with only a few strokes and curved lines, creating an impressive sense of immediacy. The reverse of the work shows another washed pen-and-ink drawing and a pencil drawing with similar motifs. They provide remarkable insight into Gauermann’s working process and the way he conceptualized his images. The artist made repeated use of individual motifs, recombining them to create new compositions.

AGW, 2023