Hasemann
Unloading Turnips at a Farm in Hopfgarten near Weimar
Oil on canvas. 60 x 82 cm.
Signed and dated lower left: W. Hasemann. Weimar 1876.
This work from Wilhelm Hasemann's Weimar period derives its peculiar charm from its realism and attention to detail. One can almost feel the warmth of the sunbeams, hear the gentle clucking of the chicken and her chicks and the busy noise of the farmers unloading their turnip harvest and picking off the leaves. The painter was particularly successful in depicting surface textures, using broad and narrow brushstrokes, stippling, and lines to bring the painting to life with a broad range of pastose and glazed techniques. The painted textures of the wooden roof tiles, the clay tiles beneath the straw, and the thatched roof appear almost sculptural in their three-dimensional rendering.
Several published sketches of various parts of this work as well as other paintings allow us to place the location of the farmstead to Hopfgarten near Weimar (see Naudert 2012, p. 144, 146, & 147, each with a colour plate). On the stretcher is an original label of the pigment supplier, inscribed “Fournisseur de Lacour” with the municipal arms of Colmar.
Provenance
Private ownership, Weimar. - Private ownership, Colmar. - Alexandra Bartsch (collection label to the stretcher). - English private ownership.
Literature
Naudert, J.-Ph._ Wilhelm Hasemann (1850-1913) - Sein Weg zum Schwarzwaldmaler, Gutach/Schwarzwaldbahn, 2012, p. 144, 146 and 147, each with colour plates).