Sheep Ditch (Der Schafgraben)

1843

Adolph Menzel

Associated Names
Adolph Menzel

Artist, German, 1815 - 1905

The image depicts a pastoral landscape with a river, a child standing next to an adult in a boat by the riverbank, a stone bridge with three arches in the distance, and a rustic building to the left. Beyond the bridge, there is a larger building and a taller structure with a spire behind it. Trees of varying sizes populate the scene, some with dense foliage and others partly bare. The brushwork is delicate and precise, capturing the fluidity of the water and the rugged texture of the trees. The color palette is subdued, using sepia tones to give the image an antiquated appearance reminiscent of older etchings.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching with drypoint on Japan paper

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 16.83 × 23.18 cm (6 5/8 × 9 1/8 in.)
    sheet: 29.53 × 36.83 cm (11 5/8 × 14 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.3540

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dorgerloh 1896 1372, State iv/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Bibliography

1896

  • Dorgerloh, A. Verzeichnis der durch kunstdruck vervielfältigen arbeiten Adolf Menzels. Leipzig: E.A. Seemann, 1896: no. 1372, iv/iv

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, in image, at lower center on boat: A Menzel 1843.; at bottom left in graphite in later hand: x.138; verso: none

Markings

none

Watermarks

none

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