Inner yard in Munich 1858

Johann Friedrich Hoff made this drawing of an inner yard in Munich using graphite on paper in 1858. This is not a study in the grand tradition of history painting. It is a more immediate kind of record. The artist worked by rapidly deploying line and hatching, swiftly capturing the depth and complexity of the architecture. We can appreciate the skill required to render form and space with such economy. It's not just a transcription of the yard, but also a revelation of its underlying structure. The drawing's value lies in its immediacy and directness, a perspective on craft that sees value in unpretentious, everyday scenes, and acknowledges the labor involved in capturing a specific moment in time. This work encourages us to look beyond the finished product, and consider the artistic process itself.