Skizzenbuch 1841

0:00

drawing, paper, ink

portrait

drawing

16_19th-century

textured paper

landscape

paper

ink

german

romanticism

This is Ludwig Metz's "Skizzenbuch," housed here at the Städel Museum, though the exact date of its creation remains unknown. The sketchbook’s cover is immediately striking. The texture is not smooth or uniform but rather reminiscent of a dried-up riverbed or the cracked surface of old leather, evoking a sense of time and history. The dominant colors are muted browns and creams, lending it an earthy, organic quality. The network of fine lines creates a visual complexity. The way these lines intersect and branch out hints at underlying systems and structures. It invites us to consider the sketchbook not merely as an object but as a representation of the complex network of thoughts and ideas contained within. This invites the observer to contemplate the relationship between the macro and micro, the internal and external. The cover serves as a metaphor for the artistic process itself – a surface rich with potential, waiting to be explored and transformed.

Comments

stadelmuseum over 1 year ago

⋮

During the summer 1841 and on his journey along the Rhine, Ludwig Metz drew with a fine, hard pencil, sometimes also with the pen in brown. The architectures ‒ some of which are reproduced precisely, from almost only sacred buildings, often set in the surrounding landscape, as well as ornaments and architectural details ‒ show a nearly documental verisimilitude. They bear witness to the specific architectural interest of the student architect, who, at the age of 19, visited Kiedrich, Scharfenberg, Bacharach, Oberweser, Glees, Andernach, Sinzig, Bonn, Cologne and Drachenfels from July to August. Metz used the sketchbook primarily to study the various sacred buildings, which gained new appreciation during the Rhine Romanticism and which Metz mostly depicted with interior and exterior views. As is common for architectural plans, Metz later occasionally washed the drawings with a brush or coloured parts, especially the ground plans and cuts, in red or brown.For a full sketchbook description, please see “Research”.