JOHAN CHRISTIAN KLENGEL (Kesseldorf 1751 - 1825 Dresden)
Horses Gathered near their Shed
graphite underdrawing, brush with grey and brown washes, white heightening, on blue paper. 7 1/2 x 13 5/8" (190 x 347 mm). signed by the artist, l/r; Klengel......
Literature: Anke Frohlich, Glucklich gewalte Natur...Der Dresdner Landschaftmaler Johann Christian Klengel (1751-1824) Monographie und Werkverzeichnis, Hildesheim, New York, Olms 2005, p. 361 (?), cat. # Z, 186, illus.
Klengel is known primarily as a landscape and animal painter and etcher. He taught at the Academy in Dresden. He wrote several books about the ideal landscape, how to draw and paint it. A monograph recently published of his work and life by Anke Frohlich, shows him to be a prolific draftsman, etcher, and lithographer who had quite a following including copyists of his pastoral landscapes. Of the many drawings of horses illustrated in this book, the present drawing garners a photograph larger than most and appears to be one of his finest and most colorful, aided no doubt by the color of the pristine blue paper on which it is drawn. The mixture of tan and grey washes with white heightening are also appealing, as well as the fact that the drawing is a complete composition, not just a small study, and consists of more than a few horses. Not surprisingly, the greatest number of Klengel's works, especially his paintings, are found in Dresden. The British Museum has a number of his etchings and one drawing. The Metropolitan Museum has two landscapes, purchased in 2008 & 9, illustrated on their online collection. The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento has one, unusual as it is a genre scene. An intricate landscape drawing has long been at The Fogg Museum, where there is also a large sketch of three trees beneath which an artist sketches.