The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 4, 2023

Falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen (Rheinfall von Schaffhausen)

1885

Adolph von Menzel

(German, 1815–1905)

Germany, 19th century

Graphite, with stumping (traces of white paint, along left edge, unrelated to composition)

Support: Beige(1) laid paper

Sheet: 12.3 x 19.5 cm (4 13/16 x 7 11/16 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1985.147

Location

not on view

Description

Menzel was one of the most celebrated and prolific painters in Germany during the 19th century. A
meticulous draftsman, he executed detailed drawings in preparation for each of his paintings. Thousands of the artist’s notebook studies have survived. Many of them were studies of heads, half-figures, and landscape vignettes to be incorporated into his paintings. This sheet depicting a waterfall and bridge shrouded in mist is an example of one of Menzel’s exquisite graphite studies.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed, lower left, in graphite: A M. 85 [line over 85] ; verso, upper right, in graphite(?): 12-197 ; by artist(?), lower left, in graphite: Schaffhausen [partially skinned]

Provenance
Adolf Glüenstein, Hamburg
Adolf Glüenstein, Hamburg (Lugt 123, verso, lower center, in blue ink). [C.G. Boerner, Düsseldorf]
Exhibition history

Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/15/04-11/14/04. "Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century". No exhibition catalogue.

The Year in Review for 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 20, 1986).

The German Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-June 27, 1993).

Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.147