Studienblatt_ Figuren, Objekte, ein Haus und ein Rind 

Editor: Here we have Teutwart Schmitson’s "Studienblatt_ Figuren, Objekte, ein Haus und ein Rind", a drawing on paper from the Städel Museum collection. It feels almost like a page torn from a sketchbook, showing a jumble of figures and objects. What strikes you most about this work? Curator: Well, immediately I see the raw materiality of the piece – the paper itself, the marks made upon it. These sketches, seemingly disparate, reveal an artist engaging with the very act of production. The house, the figures, the ox - they're all subjects undergoing a process of material transformation through the artist's hand. Look at how he renders the wooden implements, almost lovingly. Do you think the choice of such mundane subjects is deliberate? Editor: It's interesting you focus on the materiality. I suppose I hadn't considered the objects themselves as being that significant beyond their representative function. Is that a comment on the shift away from idealized subjects in art, perhaps? Curator: Exactly. It pushes us to think about the labor involved in depicting these items, the cultural context that imbues them with value. The house isn’t just a house; it’s shelter constructed through labor, represented through the labor of drawing. These elements raise interesting questions about the relationship between art, labor, and the everyday objects of our lives. And it certainly prefigures later shifts toward incorporating found objects and valuing process over finished product. How do you see the artist’s hand in relation to the representation? Editor: I hadn’t really thought about how this connects to the later emphasis on the artist’s process. It’s amazing to consider this drawing not just as a preliminary sketch but as a document of its own making. Curator: Precisely. It blurs the line between ‘high art’ and the work of everyday life. Perhaps this focus shifts our awareness toward valuing not only the representation, but the conditions that gave rise to both the subject matter, and its eventual representation.