(Murrhardt 1850–1941 Munich)
Sheep leaving the stall, signed, dated H. Zügel (1)911,
oil on canvas, 35 x 46 cm, framed, (Rei)

Compare:
Eugen Diem, Heinrich von Zügel. Leben, Schaffen, Werk, Recklinghausen 1975, no. 794, 986 (Schäfer Collection, Schweinfurt), 988 and 1096

Heinrich von Zügel was educated at the Academy of Munich and Stuttgart and discovered his passion for the depiction of livestock in his early years. His bond with nature and with animals was pronounced from an early stage due to a background of familiarity with them, his father having owned a herd of sheep. The detailed depiction of his protagonists, who represented a lucrative source of income for the farmers who rented them to the painter, takes precedence in his work.
Zügel’s painting is always direct and immediate. He distances himself from sentimental representations. His artistic significance stands him in stead with Fritz von Uhde (1848–1911), Max Liebermann (1847–1935) and Wilhelm Leibl (1844–1900), although stylistic differences emerge between them. The detailed precision of his early work yields to a painting modulated by light and shadow, giving a more expressive power to his subject. His comprehensive œuvre shows in an exemplary manner the change in his style of painting. The painting here distances itself from the usual portrayal of sheep herds grazing idyllically on the pasture. His interpretation approaches the theme far from a sentimental-kitsch presentation, grasping instead a moment free from any pathos – the sheep leaving their stall – with a dynamism and intensity of which scarcely any other artist of this time would be capable. Through the close-up view he has chosen, the viewer comes almost eye-to-eye with the animals. Here, we discern a Zügel who, as plein air painter, is able to capture the atmosphere of fresh air.