Kopfstudie zum _Bauernkrieg_ 

Curator: What a striking drawing! This is "Kopfstudie zum Bauernkrieg," or "Head Study for the Peasants' War," by Julius Hamel. The date is unknown, but it’s likely from the 19th century and is currently held in the Städel Museum collection. Editor: The delicate use of graphite is just mesmerizing. The soft shading gives him such a gentle quality despite the clear historical context suggested by the title. I see more Romantic sensitivity than warlike grit in his face. Curator: Indeed. And thinking about Hamel’s process, a drawing like this would be invaluable as he refined the design for history paintings. The work done on this material helps understand the final pictorial result in relation to an exploration of Realism, for instance. He focuses on the head and the material folds of his garment. Editor: Absolutely. These "head studies" served a very real, pragmatic function in academic workshops. You’d see studios filled with similar explorations—works that become historical records in themselves, evidence of the working class engaged by the cultural environment promoted by those institutions. A museum choosing to display it gives access to such an ecosystem. Curator: Exactly! He also creates a tangible record of artistic labor. It is really fascinating how the subtle pressure and distribution of weight can give different results according to the will of the maker, Editor: And if we read the title of the work and consider it as a materialist record, Hamel presents a particular romanticized view of that class and moment to a rising national audience at that period of German art making. We do not see them downtrodden; but as stoic. Curator: Well, the artist has definitely immortalized something profound within this "head study." Looking at his methods offers fresh insights. Editor: This piece and these details definitely offer up some ways of understanding the intersection of academic exercise, materiality, and art production!