Description
This is a remarkable example of an early work from a pioneering proponent of Realism. Menzel revealed the unglamorous aspect of bourgeois train travel in many compelling details: a man asleep in a contorted position, a wistful woman gazing out at early morning light, the detritus of their journey around them. Menzel began to use opaque watercolor (gouache) in 1850, combining it with pastel (and oil) as seen here.
Provenance
Wilhelm Itzinger, Berlin, by 1898 [Boetticher]. Galerie Heinemann, Munich, from Dec. 15, 1903; sold to Hofrat Hanfstaengl, Munich, Jan. 7, 1904 [Heinemann stockbook]. Dr. Martin Söhle, Hamburg, by 1905 [Tschudi]; sold, E. A. Fleischmann’s, Munich, Oct. 30, 1907, lot 100. Alfred Sommerguth (1859-1950), Berlin; his forced sale: Hans W. Lange, Berlin, Feb. 7, 1939, lot 21. Private Collection, Germany; sold in cooperation with the heirs of Alfred Sommerguth, Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 2011, lot 37, to Colnaghi, London; sold by Katrin Bellinger, Munich, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2012.
Accession Number
215327
Medium
Gouache, with touches of pastel and oil paint, on cream wove paper, laid down on Japanese paper
Dimensions
27.3 × 33 cm (10 3/4 × 13 in.)
Classification
gouache
Credit Line
Regenstein Acquisition Fund