"Shepherd Boy at Rest with Calf, Goat, Kid, Lamb and Dog"
Julius Paul Junghanns (1876 - 1958)
Oil on canvas
29 x 23 1/4 (36 3/4 x 31 frame) inches
This exquisite painting, bathed in the evening glow of late afternoon summer light, is a very fine example of Professor Junghanns exercising his considerable skills in depicting the relationships between the humans and their animals. The amazing brushwork technique emphasizes Junghanns talent at creating a sense of color by building layers of complementary and contrasting colors to make a visually unified perception. The execution and handling of the myriad colors in the lengthening shadows is truly amazing.
A painted study of the calf can be seen in the monograph “Skizzen und Gemalde aus dem Nachlass { Sketches and Paintings from the Estate.}"
Farm animals were considered a very important resource and a sure parameter for evaluating the wealth of rural society. Families raised livestock with care and dedication because it was the main source of livelihood.
The fairs dedicated to farm animals were important occasions for the purchase and sale of products and derivatives but also of specimens for reproduction. The Montbèliarde bovine breed, of French origins, derives from crosses with the Simmental breed, stands out from the others for a marked fertility; they are strong and robust animals, with an optimal and muscular body condition. Bred since the 18th century, they are often depicted in traditional Flemish paintings, with other Dutch breeds (Frisian or Lakenvelder).
J.Paul Junghanns attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden and continued his specialization in Munich where he moved from 1899, he was a pupil of Heinrich Von Zugel, when he started his course he knew exactly what he wanted to become ... an Animalier painter, this belief never left him until he was 81 years old. His philosophy was immediately distinguished thanks to the dedication with which he welcomed the academic career, he wrote: "... at the Academy I had made my profession a single mission, to seek inspiration as much as possible in artistic literature and in attending exhibitions. to do my duty as a responsible, conscientious and stimulating teacher, to be able to convey to my students the essential foundations of art and to be able to satisfy their questions.”
He obtained numerous medals and awards for his works, was appointed a member of the Bund Deutschen Zeichneder Kunstler commission in Munich, and later joined the Bildender Kunstler Sezession Association in Munich. He also began an important career in the field of academic teaching; he obtained as Director the chair of Animalier and Plein Air Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf where he remained there for over 40 years.
Junghanns is a well-known painter in Germany, Europe and overseas, many works are part of private collections and are exhibited in art galleries and museums in Berlin, Hagen, Munich, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Gdansk, Konigsberg, Krefeld, Chemnitz, Karlsruhe, Manheim, Vienna, London, Madrid, Antwerp, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Boston, this level of internationality is fundamental considering the artistic production during a restrictive period such as the Reich.
Junghanns devoted himself to subjects of the animalier genre, linked to everyday life while maintaining a dense and very accentuated symbolic meaning, nature played an undisputed role of protagonist.