85 - T. OER (1807-1885), Italian musician, Pencil

T. OER (1807-1885), Italian musician, Pencil Theobald Reinhold Anton Freiherr von Oer (1807 Nottbeck - 1885 Coswig): Italian musician with mandolin and listening lady, 19th century, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Inscription: Verso numbered: "1657". Date: 19th century Description: The name Theobald Reinhold von Oër is today primarily associated with the painting Weimar Court of the Muses, which shows the most important representatives of Weimar Classicism, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried Herder, gathered around the Duchess Anna Amalia in Tiefurt Park. The large-format painting was created in 1860, when von Oër, a pupil of Johann Friedrich Matthäi at the Dresden Art Academy and of Wilhelm von Schadow in Düsseldorf, had long enjoyed his reputation as a respected history painter in Dresden. Before he settled there, however, he made a trip to Italy from 1837 to 1839. In doing so, he joined the veritable artistic exodus towards Italy that depopulated the European art academies in the first half of the 19th century. It was a common phenomenon that scholars sent to Italy did not want to return to their alma mater. Oër's fine pencil drawing expresses his admiration for Mediterranean life. Depicted is an intimate union of a mandolin player and a singer sitting on a rock. While she, her hands folded in her lap, turns towards the musician, he seems completely absorbed in his playing. This is how one imagines Italian country life, the illusion is complete. Added to this are the technical means, such as the pure line, which is sweeping enough to make the work seem dynamic, and the balanced arrangement of the figures. All this immediately brings to mind the Nazarenes, in whose work the line always serves the ideal. As a pupil of Schadow, Oër knew how to draw on the tradition of his great models by using Nazarene means of expression to give his figures a pious aura, even if the motif is entirely secular. Keywords: Travel sketch, Italy, Naples, artist trip, Grand Tour, 19th century, Romanticism, Costumes, Italy, Size: Paper: 20,8 cm x 26,1 cm (8,2 x 10,3 in) Condition: Good condition. Minimally soiled and wavy along the edges.