Adolf Schreyer

Oelbermann Collection, Cologne
Acquired by the family of the present owner circa 1920; thence by descent

Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, Dresden, 1891, vol. II, p. 654, no. 43

Original canvas. There are a few minor scattered spots of retouching, apparently on top of the original varnish, including to the upper extreme right edge, and a few scattered cosmetic strokes to the horses and riders. Apart from some varnish discolouration, a few scattered tiny fine lines of paint shrinkage and a stretcher mark upper centre, this work is in very good original condition and its appearance would dramatically transform with a clean.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In this major composition, a Russian uniformed officer crosses a snowy steppe in a horse-drawn sleigh. A storm brews in the darkening sky beyond, while pursuing wolves add to the drama.  Schreyer first travelled to eastern Europe and southern Russia in 1848 with Prince Thurn und Taxis, and in 1855 joined his regiment as official war artist covering the Crimean War. Russian, Wallachian and Cossack motifs would henceforth become central to his work, but it was the wide open Russian wastes in particular which fired his romantic imagination.

Regardless of where his travels took him, Schreyer's main fascination was for horses, which he saw as the embodiment of raw, untrammelled energy and as a natural extension of their wild habitats.  He depicted them as deeply instinctual creatures, even when tamed. In the present work, the team of six horses rear up immediately on sensing danger, against all attempts by their driver to control them. Schreyer gives masterful expression to their emotion through an equally dynamic technique of broad brushstrokes and dramatic chiaroscuro, calling to mind the work of the French Romantics. 

The Pursuit indeed shows the unmistakable influences of Schreyer's contemporaries in France, whose work he admired and grew to know well after settling in Paris in 1863.  As the the reviewer for the Paris Courier artistique observed in February 1864: 'Schreyer joins to a grand and bold conception a profoundly poetic sentiment; this makes him both German and French. His manner, as well as his talent, has two natures: it recalls both Delacroix and Fromentin. His colour is a happy mingling of the dreamy tones of one and the powerful colours of the other.'