Heinrich Bürkel, 1802 Pirmasens - 1869 Munich

SMITHY IN WINTER, AROUND 1855/ 60
Oil on canvas. Doubled.
64.5 x 87 cm.
Signed "HBÜRKEL." lower left.
In gilded frame.

View from an elevated position of a snow-covered landscape with a wide path on which a pig herder is driving his animals. On the right of the path, before a stony hill, a large old farmhouse which probably serves as smithy as indicated by two horses standing beside the entrance and two waggon wheels. In front of the house, the owner is in conversation with three musicians. To the right of the house is a frozen waterwheel. Depiction in predominantly monochrome colors with a high grey sky, reflecting the cold of winter.

The artist was a Biedermeier painter who mainly painted landscapes and depictions of folk life in the Alps. From 1824, he was one of the first and most important members of the newly founded Munich Art Association, which enabled him to exhibit his paintings independently of the Academy. He also traveled to Italy several times and sometimes stayed there for up to two years. His friends in the mid-19th century included Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885) and Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868).

Literature:
Hans-Peter Bühler and Albrecht Krückl, Heinrich Bürkel. Mit Werksverzeichnis der Gemälde, Munich 1989, p. 310, ill. no. 705. (14101313) (18)



Heinrich Bürkel,
1802 Pirmasens - 1869 Munich

A FORGE IN WINTER, CA. 1855/ 60

Oil on canvas. Relined.
64.5 x 87 cm.
Signed "HBÜRKEL." lower left.

Literature:
Hans-Peter Bühler, Albrecht Krückl, Heinrich Bürkel. Mit Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Munich 1989, p. 310, ill. no. 705.