Johann Sperl

Johann Sperl (1840 Buch near Fürth - 1914 Bad Aibling) - Interior of a village smithy. Oil on canvas. 1870. 36.4 x 43.4 cm. Signed and dated lower right. Framed. Not with Moritz. This view into a simple village smithy is convincing due to the frontal immediacy and simplicity of the depiction. In his early work, Sperl created several such interiors, restrained and without anecdotal additions, which are entirely committed to the Leibl circle's realistic conception of art. In this way, he elevated the surroundings of the rural population, which had previously only served as a backdrop, to the status of a picture. For the village community was undoubtedly still dependent on the work of a blacksmith. He made the fittings for the wagons, plows and harrows, forged oven doors, bent the iron into chains and worked it into locks with a hammer. And he was responsible for shoeing the horses and draught oxen, including hoof and claw care. Sperl succeeds here in working out the textures in the masonry and beams, and the interaction of light and shadow on the stone floor is also precisely observed. He chooses the yellow fire radiating from the stove as the sole color accent. We would like to thank Werner Moritz, Prien, for kindly confirming the authenticity of the oil sketch on the basis of a high-resolution photograph. (E-mail dated 8.2.2024). Provenance: Galerie F.H. Zinckgraf, Munich, verso with adhesive label (no. "20737"); Bochmann Collection, Meerane; Private property, Southern Germany. Taxation: Differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme)