Sitting girl, ca. 1830
Pen, black and brown ink
Sheet dimensions36,1 × 22,4 cm
About the workThis work comes from an album entitled Gedanken-Späne (Thought Shavings), in which members of the Berlin Künstlerverein (Berlin Artists’ Association) collected works that were created during collaborative sessions. Here, the co-founder of the Berlin Bildhauerschule (Berlin School of Sculpture), Johann Gottfried Schadow, strives to take simplification to the extreme and almost completely dispenses with outlines. He uses parallel pen strokes to create shadows that make the untreated paper surface seem particularly bright. Taking advantage of the laws of optics, Schadow creates the illusion of a physical appearance with just a few lines.
AccessionAcquisition 1921
Provenance[...]; Mai 1921 angekauft von der Kunsthandlung F.A.C. Prestel, Frankfurt a.M., Auktion "Sammlung Plettenberg" v. 9.-11.5.1921
Inventory numberK 1921-89
