The Watzmann seen from the North-East, and Some Sketches of a Mountain; verso: Sketch of the Church of Sankt Bartholomä at the Königsee at the foot of the Watzmann Seen from the East
1820–22
Medium
Watercolor over a sketch in charcoal; verso, graphite. Framing line on the upper, left and right edges of the recto (possible by the artist).
Dimensions
sheet: 6 1/8 x 9 7/8 in. (15.5 x 25.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and PECO Foundation Gifts, 2009
Accession Number
2009.124a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 1820s, German artist August Heinrich captured the awe-inspiring Watzmann, one of the Bavarian Alps' highest peaks, in this intimate watercolor drawing. Created between 1820 and 1822, the recto features the mountain viewed from the northeast, overlaid with loose sketches of its rugged forms in charcoal and vibrant watercolor washes. This small sheet (15.5 x 25.1 cm) evokes the Romantic era's fascination with nature's sublime power, where artists ventured into the wild to sketch en plein air, celebrating the untamed beauty of the Alps. The verso reveals a graphite sketch of Sankt B...