View into a Courtyard
ca. 1880–90
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/16 x 5 1/16 in. (20.8 x 12.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling, Ian Woodner Family Collection, and Karen B. Cohen Funds, 2012
Accession Number
2012.364
Tags
Art Historical Context
Adolph Menzel's *View into a Courtyard (ca. 1880–90) offers a captivating glimpse into everyday urban life through the master's expert hand in graphite. This small drawing, measuring just 8 3/16 x 5 1/16 inches, captures quiet courtyard scene with Menzel's signature precision and sensitivity to light and shadow. A leading figure in 19th-century German Realism Menzel (1815–1905) was renowned for elevating ordinary subjects—industrial workshops, domestic interiors, and architectural details—into profound studies of modern existence. Created late in his career, this intimate sketch exemplifies M...
About the Artist
Adolph Menzel
Adolph Menzel (1815–1905) was a German painter, draftsman, and printmaker who became the most celebrated German artist of the nineteenth century and one of the most technically accomplished realists in European art. Born Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), he moved to Berlin as a teenager and was largely self-taught, taking over his father's lithographic business ...