H. B., “Theater und Kunst, Aus dem Kunstverein.”,
Münchener Fliegende Blätter

July 28, 1887

“Theater and Art.
From the Kunstverein.
Much like previous renditions, the weekly Kunst-
verein exhibition offers a rather monotonous character.
Among the genre paintings, only a few manage to
arouse our interest. Loma v. Flesch-Brunninger con-
tributed a good picture, entitled Andacht (Devotion),
to the exhibition. It depicts an old and a young nun
kneeling in a pew in devotion. The picture, which is
very strong and clear in tone, shows correct drawing
and skillful technical treatment. The nuns are also hap-
pily captured in their devotion. In his picture, Merck Jr.
has chosen to emphasize purely external traits. Several
cavaliers pay their respects to a young lady. The whole
thing is executed in the old German style. The interior
as well as the costumes are treated diligently and skill-
fully, only the lady’s satin dress seems a little too hard
and edgy. Kotschenreiter presents us with a rural scene:
three peasants amusing themselves at skittles. The
peasants are very well characterized, well drawn,
and the coloring of the picture is strong and vibrant;
v. Rögge also exhibited two very graceful, well-drawn
and painted pictures. Klinkenberg also shifted the em-
phasis to incidental aspects in his picture Holländisches
Interieur (Dutch Interior); the picture, by the way, has
a good tone and is kept very light. Klem v. Pausinger,
in his Frühlings-Phantasie (Spring Fantasy), cupids
cavorting on clouds, leaves the principal matters to
the viewer’s imagination, not only in terms of exact
drawing, but also decorative treatment. Hartwich has
brought a very pretty and original motif from the sur-
roundings of Föhring, depicting workers repairing a
dam. Not only is the figurative part very successful, but
especially the landscape part is depicted with a striking
natural truth. Among the landscape paintings, Wiesinger
Florian knows how to captivate us with three excellent
pictures. In terms of choice of material, drawing, and
technical treatment, they are entirely reminiscent of
pictures by Schindler exhibited previously, and the
influence of the latter is significant and unmistakable.
Windmaier brought a brilliant winter evening; the pic-
ture is kept in the familiar virtuoso manner as before,
very strong and warm in tone and very rich in color.
Nörr’s evening scene is very clear and has a good tone;
the picture is especially elevated by a very well-drawn
staffage. The marine by Röhnholz is too forced in
terms of color, but overall has a good appearance; a
moonlight atmosphere by Horst is not very effective
due to poor drawing and a certain blurring; the color-
ing is also far too monotonous; likewise, two watercolor
landscapes by Ashton cannot arouse our interest, nor
can a marine by de Narces. The dilapidated alpine pas-
ture by Hahn is good in color, but too canny in its overall
effect. Among the animal pieces, a very finely executed,
well-drawn picture by Adam depicting young ravens
deserves special mention; a Kuhherde (Cow Herd) by
Horstig is good in terms of color but leaves much to be
desired in regard to a characteristic and correctly de-
tailed drawing of the animal body. A few watercolors
by Savini and Pompiani should also be mentioned. In
sculpture, Haf presents three portrait busts, one larger
than life; these are well conceived, and they demon-
strate an understanding of form. Vitalis is represented
by two reliefs and a bust; in the former the artist very
clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of his skill in
choosing classical materials; as for the portrait bust,
it is well conceived and shows good understanding in
its forms.”