拍品 470
  • 470

ADOLF SCHREYER | Fleeing Wallachian Horses

估價
60,000 - 80,000 USD
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招標截止

描述

  • Adolf Schreyer
  • Fleeing Wallachian Horses 
  • signed Ad Schreyer (lower right) 
  • oil on canvas 
  • 40 1/8 by 67 1/2 in.
  • 101.9 by 171.5 cm

來源

Peikin Galleries, New York
William Henry Haussner and Frances Wilke Haussner, The Haussner's Restaurant Collection, Baltimore (acquired from the above in 1950 and sold, their sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 2, 1999, lot 26, illustrated)
Private Collection, Midwest (acquired at the above sale) 
Acquired from the above by the present owner 

出版

Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch, "Adolphe Schreyer," The Magazine of Art, Washington, D.C., 1895, vol. 18, p. 137, illustrated 

Condition

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has not been recently restored. It has been lined with wax as an adhesive. The cracking to the paint layer is slightly raised, but the surface is good overall. The varnish is very thick and glossy. The original paint layer generally seems to be in good condition beneath this varnish. The artist's works have complex paint layers using transparent glazes and quick applications of paint, which can sometimes be mistaken for retouching under ultraviolet light. In this case, the retouching seems to be minimal. There is a restored scratch in the neck of the black horse in the lower center, but there do not appear to be any other retouches in the horses. There may be a few dots of retouching in the upper right sky. Other areas that fluoresce generally correspond to original pigment. The work could also be lightly cleaned, but it could also be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

拍品資料及來源

Schreyer first traveled to Wallachia (now part of Romania) in 1848-49.  From 1855-57 he was with the Prince's regiment to the eastern reaches of the Danube as an official war artist covering the Crimean War. These visits left a lasting impression on the young artist; with their raw, untamed landscape and sturdy people, Wallachian subjects appeared in his work throughout the rest of his career.  In particular, the artist was intrigued by the teams of horses running across the wastelands; he depicted them in numerous large scaled compositions such as the present work. 

Horses were a central component of Wallachian culture as breeding was an important component of local economy. With stables dotting the landscape, Wallachian horse-breeding was a streamlined, efficient practice, dedicated to creating animals as powerful as they were beautiful. Prized sires were exported throughout Europe, while less noble steeds supported agriculture and served as transportation.  A contemporary visitor to the region noted that Wallachian horses "are remarkably spirited, full of energy, and fly like the wind. The mode of harnessing them is extremely simple — two slender ropes serve as traces, and are united across the chest by a leather strap; another rope of smaller size is twisted round the head, in the fashion of a halter; no bit is used, and the feet are unshod, so that the animal is thus entirely at liberty" (Anatole de Demidoff, Travels in Southern Russia and the Crimea; through Hungary, Wallachia, & Moldavia, during the Year 1837, London, 1853, p. 125). Such horses are those depicted in Schreyer's Fleeing Wallachian Horses. They reveal both the muscular majesty and primal nature of the equine animal. The emotion of the scene is palpable, as the viewer is directly faced with terrified horses fleeing from a burning stable, crashing against a fence. The horses' wide eyes, tensed sinews, and frantic leaps are painted in a pure expression of emotion, recalling the evocative, excited spirit of the French Romantic masters like Géricault, Delacroix, and Vernet.  Yet the unbridled force of the scene is, as contemporary art critic J. Beavington Atkinson explains, unique to Schreyer's "mastery over the horse… The horse, as depicted by him… [is] a wild creature flying full tear across wild wastes" (as quoted in Adolf Schreyer, exhibition catalogue, Paine Art Center, 1972, pp. 15-16).

We would like to thank Dr. Chrisoph Andreas for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot.