(Miesenbach 1807–1862 Vienna)
A cow licking a bull in the pasture, signed, dated Fritz Gauermann 1824, oil on panel, 45 x 64 cm, cradled, restored, framed, (W)

Provenance:
Collection of Franz von Rosthorn (1796-1877), Klagenfurt (commissioned Gauermann to paint the picture in 1824);
sold to Collection of Paul Freiherr von Herbert (1819-1884), Kirchbichl Castle near Wolfsberg, in 1844;
by inheritance to his adopted son Ernst Herbert-Kercknawe (1842-1907), Kirchbichl Castle near Wolfsberg;
by inheritance to his son Paul Herbert-Kercknawe (1871-1922), Klagenfurt;
his sale, S. Kende, 6 October 1921, lot 47;
European Private Collection.

Catalogued in:
Rupert Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann. Der Tier- und Landschaftsmaler des österreichischen Biedermeier, Vienna 1962, p. 158, no. 19;
Rupert Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann, Vienna 1987, catalogue raisonné, p. 271, no. 29.

Friedrich Gauermann was born in the village of Miesenbach, Lower Austria, in 1807. His father Jacob, who was himself a painter, encouraged his artistic development from a very early age.
Jacob Gauermann, originally from Öttingen in Germany, was enthusiastic about historical landscape painting and nature as a direct model, in particular.Thus writes Rupert Feuchtmüller in his catalogue raisonné: “Koch’s Tyrolean landscapes, some of which he saw at the Academy in Stuttgart, spurred his longing for the mountain world.”
Jacob Gauermann’s travels also took him to Vienna, where he met his later wife through fellow artists. After marrying in Scheuchenstein in 1803, they leased the family-owned estate at Bühel in Scheuchenstein - Miesenbach, which they would be able to purchase in 1821.Both Jacob Gauermann and his son Friedrich, who later became far more famous, were enthusiastic painters of hilly landscapes near the Alps. One such example is the present painting, executed in 1824. The catalogue raisonné lists a slightly washed pen and brush drawing (no. 29), which represents a typical, fleeting preliminary study made directly from nature for the painting shown here.As is visible in many of Gauermann’s early works, this painting, too, contains references to his Dutch models, such as Karel Dujardin, whom he studied diligently.

In his income book, Friedrich Gauermann mentions Franz von Rosthorn from Klagenfurt as the buyer. Born into an industrialist’s family from Oed in Lower Austria, Rosthorn moved to Klagenfurt after completing his mining studies in 1823.
Since Oed im Piestingtal is not far from Miesenbach, one could assume that the industrialist took a bit of home with him in the form of this ravishing painting.