Boy Smoking a Pipe, 1824

Friedrich Gauermann’s (1807–1862) Boy Smoking a Pipe shows a figure in profile in a full-length portrait, seated on a simple wooden chair. The face is lit by an unidentified, strong source of light, which also makes the folds of the white shirtsleeves stand out sharply. The surroundings are blurred. The study also represents an attempt to capture the soul of the depicted and his rural world without any idealization. The inventory of Gauernmann’s estate lists numerous figure studies. This oil study was used by Gauermann as a template for a seated figure in his 1924 painting Lunch Hour Prayer, which depicts a family assembled around a table in a farmhouse parlor.

AGW, 2022