C. Hammer, Arcadia is Everywhere, 1855, Pen on Paper

Christian Gottlieb Hammer (1779 Dresden - 1864 ibid.): Arcadia is everywhere, 1855, Pen drawingTechnique: Pen drawing on Paper, mounted on PaperInscription: Signed and dated in the lower centre: " C. G. Hammer invt. et del. Dresd. 1855"Date: 1855Description: Christian Gottlob Hammer remained committed to his hometown of Dresden throughout his life. He had studied at the academy there from 1794, where Johann Philipp Veith in particular had taught him since 1798 and also introduced him to printmaking techniques. In 1816 he became a member of the academy and in 1829 he was appointed associate professor. His works were popular in broader circles beyond the confines of his teaching. Johann Wolfgang Goethe, for example, esteemed him as a "skilful landscape draughtsman", visited him in his studio in 1810 and acquired some of his prints. Hammer's productivity was by no means limited to making drawings. He also developed an extensive printmaking activity, reproducing not only his own drawings but also designs by other artists. For the "Bilderchronik" of the Schsischer Kunstverein, he created prints based on works by Johan Christian Dahl, Caspar David Friedrich and Ernst Ferdinand Oehme, among others. The prints, which are based on his own drawings, often show landscapes, especially from Saxony, Silesia and northern Bohemia. For his 1855 drawing of a river-crossed landscape closed off by mountain ranges in the background, however, Hammer oriented himself less on the seen environment than on ideal landscape concepts such as those found among the Dresden artists of the late 18th century. In times of realism and plein air, he once again sets a vivid memorial to the art of drawing of the past. The calm, southern mood of the drawing is conveyed by the architecture in the middle ground as well as by the staffage. The herd of cattle being driven across the bridge by a shepherd, for example, is a common feature of Arcadian ideal landscapes. What is striking and gives the print a completely unique charm is the way the lines are drawn, which Hammer borrows very strongly from the medium of graphic art. All spontaneous and impulsive strokes as well as possible pentimenti, which would suggest the artist's immediate creative power, are absent in this print. Shadow and surface effects are also more in keeping with the requirements of the burin than those of the pen. It is precisely through this that the beautiful drawing unfolds the strict clarity of a copperplate engraving and thus expresses in an outstanding way Hammer's talent for consciously making use of the effects of the respective medium.Keywords: Landscape, Picturesque, Dresden, 19th century, Romanticism, Landscape, Italy, Size: 32,9 cm x 28,6 cm (13 x 11,3 in)Condition: Good condition. slightly spotted in margin.