Lying cat 

Curator: Look at this delicate rendering! Here, in the Städel Museum collection, we have an evocative artwork listed as “Lying Cat” created with pencil and chalk by Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt. Editor: The immediate impression is one of quiet observation. There's a tenderness in the depiction, as if the artist was trying not to disturb the cat's rest. The use of pencil and chalk lends a soft, almost ethereal quality to the image. Curator: Yes, Hirt captures a sense of gentle intimacy through the loose hatching that makes up the cat's body and face. The materiality gives an immediate visual language. It might even feel like a memento, perhaps sketched quickly in a personal sketchbook. Domestic animals in portraiture, especially in sketch form, give us a very specific insight into nineteenth century private life. Editor: And thinking about that privacy, I'm curious about the social context surrounding this drawing. Was it common to depict domestic animals in such a seemingly uncommissioned way? Or does its presence in the Städel imply a higher status for this type of image in Hirt’s practice? What’s this sketch doing in a museum? Curator: I suspect we may be seeing a cultural shift towards a more sentimental view of animals, a rising affection represented in how Hirt meticulously suggests fur texture, without committing to sharp, photorealistic lines. Notice the cat's eyes--they feel quite emotionally astute for a simple sketch. This brings to mind popular associations of felines and femininity in art history and even some currents in modern psychology linking them to independence. Editor: Fascinating. And looking closely, the subtle indications of light and shadow enhance this emotional register you mention. The drawing, by way of Hirt's own history, might be understood not merely as a rendering, but an interaction memorialized on the page. The sketch becomes a document. Curator: Exactly. By contemplating an uncommissioned piece like "Lying Cat," we unlock layers of cultural history embedded within even the most casual visual language. Editor: Indeed, Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt's humble sketch now opens a space for discussing the evolving place of animals within society and in art historical record-keeping.