Friedrich Nerly’s etching, “Dog seated on a meadow”, 1828

Friedrich Nerly (aka Friedrich Nehrlich) (1807–78)

“Dog seated on a meadow”, 1828, from the series, “Thierstudien gezeichnet und radiert von F. Nerly”

Etching on heavy wove paper lined onto a support sheet of fine washi paper

Size: (sheet) 24.6 x 34.3 cm; (plate) 20.2 x 24.7 cm

Inscribed on tablet at lower left: “Thierstudien gez. u. rad. von F. Nerly 1928”

See the description of this print held by the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1445551&partId=1&searchText=Friedrich+Nerly&page=1

See also: Peter Hirschfeld 1931, “Rumohr und Nerly, Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen”, vol. 52; Thomas Gädecke (ed.) 1991, “Friedrich Nerly und die Künstler um Carl Friedrich von Rumohr”, exh. cat., Schleswig-holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Kloster Cismar.

Condition: crisp impression with generous margins in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing). The print has been laid upon a conservator’s support sheet.

I am selling this superbly rendered etching of a hound for the total cost of AU$136 (currently US$106.71/EUR90.29/GBP79.65 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this seldom seen print (very few etchings by Nerly are to be found on the marketplace—probably because collectors are not willing to part with them), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This study of a hound was executed in 1828 when the artist was 21. I mention the date (shown inscribed on the stone tablet featured at the lower left) because it was a momentous year for him. Not only did he change his surname from “Nehrlich” to “Nerly”, but he also moved from his hometown in Erfurt (central Germany) to Rome.

Evidence that this beautiful drawing was executed at the beginning of Nerly’s artistic career is fairly clear. For instance, note that Nerly has yet to learn how to give pictorial weight to the dog with tonal accents on each side where it makes contact with the ground to avoid the illusion that the dog is levitating. Moreover, Nerly has yet to discover how to adjust the tone of the background so that it is slightly lighter on the shadow side of the dog and slightly darker on the dog’s lit side. Going further, he has still to acquire the subtle technique of erasing details behind areas of the animal that are projecting forward (i.e. use of the visual device of noetic space).

Notwithstanding that this drawing is an early work by Nerly, the drawing has all the hallmarks of an artist on the path to succeed. By this I mean that Nerly already knows how to render the dog’s form convincingly with contour marks. What is especially significant in the treatment of the dog’s contours is that Nerly does not to show textural details in the lit areas of the fur (i.e. he leaves these areas untouched/white).