Interior of a village smithy

Details

Nicht bei Moritz.

Provenienz:
Galerie F.H. Zinckgraf, München, verso mit dem Klebeetikett (Nr. “20737”);
Sammlung Bochmann, Meerane;
Privatbesitz, Süddeutschland.

Description

This view into a simple village smithy impresses with the frontal immediacy and simplicity of the depiction. In his early work, Sperl created several interiors of this kind, pared back and without anecdotal additions, which are entirely committed to the realistic artistic conception of the Leibl circle. In this way, he elevated the surroundings of the rural population, which had previously only served as a backdrop, to the status of a picture. There is no doubt that the village community was still dependent on the work of a blacksmith. He made the fittings for the wagons, ploughs and harrows, forged oven doors, bent the iron into chains and worked it into locks with a hammer. And he was responsible for shoeing the horses and draught oxen, including hoof and claw care. Sperl succeeds here in emphasising the textures in the masonry and beams, and the interaction of light and shadow on the stone floor is also precisely observed. He chooses the yellow fire radiating from the oven as the sole colour accent.

We are grateful to Werner Moritz, Prien, for kindly confirming the authenticity of the oil sketch on the basis of a high-resolution photograph. (E-mail dated 8 February 2024).