(Miesenbach 1807–1862 Vienna) A Bear and her Cubs Occupied with a Deer, 1845, signed F. Gauermann, oil on panel, 73.7 x 58.5 cm, framed, light cracking, (W)

Literature: Rupert Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann (1807–1862), Rosenheimer Verlagshaus 1987, CR no. 220. Rupert Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann, published by the Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, 1962, Inventory book Friedrich Gauermann, no. 177. Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, Vol. I, 1, p.376, no. 40. Provenance: Collection Norbert Mayer, Vienna (Inventory no. 4); 547th Art Auction, Dorotheum Vienna, 17th March 1960, p.7, lot 37; Private Viennese property. This scene is set in a gorge in the high mountains. The rock walls rise up to the left and right. Snow covered peaks shine through the dying and fallen trees. The gathering clouds, filled with light, generate a floating atmosphere, corresponding with the dramatic fight which has just been concluded in the foreground. Beside a stream, and below the powerful rocks, a family of bears falls on a deer. The fight is over. The deer is breathing its last. The mother bear is set in a triumphal pose. The two clubs still appear clumsy as if, for them, it is all still a game. It is this playful element that lends the scene its particular charm, serving to dampen the severity and drama a little. The animals are presented in a most lively and natural manner. The landscape, which forms the backdrop against which the scene is set, underlines the inevitability of the situation. Gauermann sets the scene of the fight as if on a stage. The animals and the rock wall behind them are dramatically lit, whereas the rest of the landscape remains in shadow. Gauermann allows the contrasting colours to merge into one another. The play of light and colour is masterful. The ordering of the animals is thoroughly composed with their heads positioned to form a rhombus. The dead deer’s antlers are arranged in a particularly decorative manner. Here it is clear that Gauermann has oriented himself on baroque principles of composition. His role models were paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Frans Snyders, Josef Roos, Carl Ruthards and J. E. Riedinger. However, this baroque influence is only present in the external similarities, in the effect. More important was the realistic positioning, the personal observation (Rupert Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann 1807–1862, Der Tier- und Landschaftsmaler des österreichischen Biedermeier, Vienna 1962, p. 53). Gauermann was very close to nature and studied animals in their natural settings from childhood onwards. He also took part in hunting parties, giving him first hand experience of animals fighting. In Miesenbach the artist kept his own small menagerie, with foxes, roe deer and golden eagles. Even when painting bears, the artist was able to rely on observations and sketches made at the Imperial Zoo at Schönbrunn. Therefore his starting point was his personal experience, changes in the composition only the result of the artist’s fantasy. Natural events were idealised and dramatised, but never reduced to cliches about the battle between good and evil. However, the emotional content was very important. Gauermann recorded the events in a very personal manner, incorporating his own thoughts and feelings into the painting itself (Feuchtmüller, p. 53, 56, 57). His scenes of animals fighting, upon which he concentrated intensively from the late 1820’s and which played a key role in his early success, engendered universal admiration and received international recognition (Wolfgang Krug, Friedrich Gauermann 1807–1862, Vienna Munich 2001, p.162; Feuchtmüller p.78).