A. Hendschel, Artist Caricatures, 1851, Etching

Albert Hendschel (1834 Frankfurt on the Main - 1883 ibid.): Artist caricatures, c. 1851, EtchingTechnique: Etching on PaperInscription: inscribed in pencil on versoDate: c. 1851Description: Already at a young age, the young Albert Hendschel showed a talent for drawing. An aptly executed caricature by his grammar school teacher convinced even his father to support the boy's artistic career. Hendschel then studied at the Stdelschule from 1847 and was enrolled there with Jakob Becker from 1851. In our two wonderful caricatures, on the first sheet in the top row from left to right, he depicts his fellow students in Jakob Becker's class at the Stdel Art Institute: Otto Scholderer (1834-1902), Julius Hamel (1834-1907), Louis Lang (1824- 1886), Karl Bernhard Schlsser (1832-after 1914), Karl Harveng (1832-1874) and a certain Nehrlich, about whom, however, no further information is available. In the second sheet there are now not only Academy students: the first row begins on the left with two figures who are not identified. They are followed by the architect Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (born 1828) and the painters Karl Freiberger (1831-1855) and Leopold Bode (1831-1906). The next figure is identified on the reverse as E. Hallenstein, who at least is not mentioned as an artist in Jakob Becker. Then follows Carl Hessemer (1853-1944), who is the son of Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer, who also taught at the art academy. The last artist in the upper group is Victor Lorie (1835-1912). Below them as portraits on the left are Johann Heinrich Hasselhorst (1825- 1904), Ernst Schalck (1827-1865), Philipp Winterwerb (1827-1873), Adolf Schreyer (1828-1899) and Peter Becker (1828-1904). Our two prints are a telling testimony to Hendschel's masterfully abbreviated and therefore all the more accurate line management and the razor-sharp characterisation of his fellow human beings. Whether the depictions in the lower row (especially on the first sheet) are coded attributes to the artist's friends, as is sometimes assumed, must remain unclear for the time being. The little lady in the middle of the first sheet is inscribed "Erlangerin" on the reverse. The other depictions are also likely to be spontaneous ideas, partly from everyday life, partly from academy life. But here, too, Hendchel's ability to aptly characterise types with just a few lines is astonishing.Provenance: From the estate of the artist. Keywords: 19th century, Romanticism, Caricature, Germany, Size: 12,1 cm x 15,2 cm (4,8 x 6 in), Depiction: 9,2 cm x 10,5 cm (3,6 x 4,1 in)Condition: Very good condition. Age-appropriate.