Skizzenbuch 1847

drawing, ink, indian-ink

drawing

natural stone pattern

16_19th-century

muted colour palette

worn

white palette

paper texture

ink

chalky texture

german

carved into stone

indian-ink

watercolour bleed

printed materiality

watercolor

"Skizzenbuch" is a sketchbook by Ludwig Metz, dating back to 1847. The sketchbook's cover is a simple dark green, with a few visible blemishes. The cover of this book provides an insight into the materiality of artistic creation and the artist's personal practice. This sketchbook, now housed in the Städel Museum, offers a glimpse into the mind of a 19th-century artist. It is an object that stands in contrast to the finished works of art, yet it is equally valuable for understanding the artistic process.

Comments

stadelmuseum about 1 year ago

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Between July 1847 and October 1848, Ludwig Metz undertook various excursions to Salzburg, Lake Garda, Venice, Trento, Verona, Munich, Marburg, Nuremberg and Bamberg. A logical route can only be roughly backtracked if we assume that Metz did not fill the sketchbook systematically from front to back but, rather, turned random pages while drawing, or that he recorded different trips in this sketchbook. Metz mainly used the pencil to jot down architectural motifs, especially from medieval sacral buildings, to which he sometimes added colour notes and measurements. As in many of his other sketchbooks ‒ as is common for plan drawings ‒, he tinted the supporting walls in the ground plans and details in the cuts mostly with a brush in red. Besides the historical buildings, he also carefully studied the church of St. Ludwig in Munich, built by Friedrich von Gärtner between 1829 and 1844.For a full sketchbook description, please see “Research”.