View towards an Alley
  • Max Liebermann
  • Berlin 1847 - 1935
  • View towards an Alley, ca. 1890
  • Black chalk, partly smeared and heightened with white, on light blue paper, irregular upper border
  • signed with pencil on the lower left: M Liebermann
  • 223 × 143 mm

Before Max Liebermann moved into his parents’ townhouse at the Brandenburg Gate in 1894, he lived with his young family at In den Zelten 11 on the northern boundary of the Tiergarten in Berlin, a forested parkland honeycombed with walkways and tree-lined streets. Just like the beloved garden at his summerhouse on the Wannsee (from 1910), this innercity oasis continuously provided the artist with ever-new motives to devote himself to, especially the play of nature through the change of seasons. Although the proximity to the draftsmanship of Adolph von Menzel – ubiquitous in Berlin – is readily apparent, Liebermann knew how to combine the tradition of the 19th century with the growing influences of Impressionism in an original way.

This sheet originated during a stroll in the park and was probably later torn from a sketchbook, to which it was attached at the upper edge. The astonishing perspective of this narrow alley of old trees dominates our small-scale study with its great depth effect. Branches and foliage remain secondary to the defining structure of the mighty trunks, and were deliberately included by Liebermann in an atmospherically vague manner. The visibly sunlit field at the end of the avenue radiates from the background with selective emphasis by means of white highlights.

Drs. Margreet Nouwen has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this drawing.