Lot 1379 Dα

Whilst studying at the academy in Karlsruhe from 1860 to 1866, Thoma would often return to his hometown of Bernau in the summer months and make sketches and oil studies from nature. The present work is one such study, and is included and illustrated in Thode's catalogue raisonné from 1909. However, the signature is missing from the illustration, indicating that Thoma may have added it at a later date when he saw the oil sketch again. Thoma would have dated the piece to 1866, but Thode dates it to 1862 in his catalogue raisonné. This would make it a very early work by Thoma, and a highly rare and important product of his time as a student. Very few examples of the numerous sketches and oil studies from this period have survived.
We would like to thank Dr. Christoph Andreas in Frankfurt for his kind support in cataloguing this work.