Strohschneider (Straw Cutter)
Medium
engraving with etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 36.4 × 24.6 cm (14 5/16 × 9 11/16 in.) sheet: 47 × 34.4 cm (18 1/2 × 13 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Purchased as an Anonymous Gift
Accession Number
2015.16.31
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the National Gallery of, where *Strohschneider (Straw Cutter)* invites you into the industrious world of 18-century rural Europe. Created in 1775 by engraver Quirin Mark after design by Austrian artist Johann Christian Brand, this print captures a humble yet vital figure: the straw cutter, likely toiling in a pastoral scene. Brand (1722–1795), known for his lively genre and landscape works in the Rococo tradition, often depicted everyday laborers with a touch of dramatic realism, reflecting the era's growing fascination with ordinary life amid Enlightenment ideals. The artwork's me...