Lot 218 Dα

In their early monographs on Max Liebermann Gustav Pauli and Erich Hancke both mention an oil study for the larger canvas painting “Rindermarkt in Leiden” (60 x 71 cm, Eberle 1901/26). It was formerly owned by Alfred Hagelstange (1874-1914), the former director of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. Itemized as being painted on “wooden panel” (a detail that Matthias Eberle adopted in his catalog raisoné of Max Liebermann's paintings), in his current expert opinion on the present work he corrects this: The study is painted on card. In fact, Eberle also discerned in the background in each instance on two different photo portraits of the artist in his studio a long blackboard to which oil studies on card are pinned, including one on the “Rindermarkt” (see documentation with the Eberle report). Liebermann also produced a well-known etching based on the same theme (Schiefler 51, see also comparative illus.).

In the study, Liebermann evidently created a first outline for the theme which defined the cropping of the image, the spatial setting, and the basics of the composition. These elements were then incorporated into the larger format of the piece on canvas and into the etching in terms of the identical scenery on the banks of the canal with the two barges in the foreground. The central section with the animal market and the people was structured later, more precisely in the drawing, and painted in great detail. In the oil study, setting a rhythm Liebermann uses large abstract brushstrokes to record the mass of the cattle while the group of figures is painted in an indefinite, leisurely manner, capturing the vibrant colour impression and without distinguishing the individual forms. This gives rise to a dynamism emphasized by the colour and painterly accents, something which in general typified Liebermann's studies on card compared to the final versions on canvas.