Lot 38 | Standing farmer.

SCHIESTL, RUDOLF
1878 Würzburg - 1931 Nuremberg


Title: Standing farmer.
Study (10. Februar 1915).
Technique: Charcoal and pastel on brown paper.
Mounting: Laid down on card. Measurement: 77,5 x
42cm. Notation: Dated middle right: 10. Februar 1915.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed behind glass.
Condition:
Sheet slightly light-stained and stained. Holes from drawing board pins in the thin paper in all four corners as well as hole in the paper to the left of the peasant woman's back. Minimal crease of the laid down paper at the bottom below the sole of the foot. Otherwise in good, colour fresh condition.
Frame: Paint chipping.

The following studies (lot 38-49) of the so-called "Knoblauchsbäuerin" are nearly all signed and dated. Through the dating, which indicates the exact day on which the study was made, we can see how the artist dealt intensively with the motif over a longer period of time, trying out perspectives and postures.

The present studies served as sketches for the painting "Mädchen aus dem Knoblauchsland. Oder: Die Grünlachsbäuerin" (Lot 1166 in the current "Fine Art" spring auction).
In the oral tradition, the iconic depiction of the " Mädchen aus dem Knoblauchsland" is regarded as the "Mona Lisa von Georgensgmünd": reproductions of this very well-known painting were on the walls of numerous southern German homes and were printed in school textbooks. Thus the sitter was able to shape the cultural identity of Franconia and become an icon of the region. The numerous studies that followed provide evidence of Rudolf Schiestl's intensive artistic engagement with the motif and the composition of the painting.