August Querfurt (1696, Wolfenbüttel – 1761, Vienna), Peasants and villagers at the entrance of a village Oil on panel, cm 38.5 x 51, with frame L 66 x 53.5 cm D 4.5 Price: between €7,500.00 and €8,500.00 Object accompanied by certificate of authenticity and expertise at the bottom of the page. The valuable painting, with its great chromatic impact thanks to the oil on panel technique, depicts a lively scene of daily country life, set near the entrance gate of a village. The episode of rural life, depicted with great vitality through the use of rapid and material touches of color, illustrates on the right, at the gates of the village, a cart loaded with hay and two farmers at work. In front of them sit some figures who are standing next to their horses. A woman on her horse reaches a passer-by while behind her a shepherd walks with his dog beside him. On the left, a child sits with his back turned while in the meantime playing with some puppies near a horse, which is resting seated. The entrance to the village is characterized by an arched opening between ancient walls, described with poetic ruinism, beyond which some houses overlook. The sky, clear, is marked by some white-grey clouds. The work is signed with the letters A.Q. lower right, recognizable in the monogram that Georg Kaspar Nagler reports in his famous volume as belonging to the painter August Querfurt. His description informs us that the "Battle painter of Wolfenbuttel (Germany), a pupil of his father Tobias, painted in the style of Borgognone. In some of his works, in which hunting scenes are also depicted, the initials of the name are found. He was stabbed by J. Burdé and A. Balzer. This master died in Vienna in 1761". The stylistic comparison with the signed works and attributed by critics to Querfurt's hand show analogies both in the artist's characteristic technique, and in the coloring used and in the choice of subjects. Some typical characteristics of the master's 'bambocciate' can be recognized, such as the laying of the color, with casual and quick brushstrokes, proving to be skilled, through the highlights, in rendering volumes and depths. The painter carefully describes the various protagonists, their gestures and clothing; attention that indicates a study from life of daily life, read and interpreted with naturalism. August Querfurt was born in Wolfenbuttel, Vienna in 1696 and is mainly known for his subjects depicting soldiers and battle scenes, certainly influenced by the painting of Philips Wouwerman. Taught by his father, Tobias Querfurt, a painter of landscapes and animals at the court of Brunswick, he later studied with Georg Philipp Rugendas (Augsburg 1666-1742) in Augsburg. In 1752, Querfurt became a member of the Academy of Vienna. He had important commissions, as evidenced, among others, by the twelve canvases, some of large size, made for Duke Charles Alexander of Württemberg and the eight paintings commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa depicting war events relating to the Austrian War of Succession (1740-1748). The works for the Empress are now housed in the Military History Museum located in Vienna. Querfurt lived in a very turbulent period: the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburgs, Great Britain and a number of other forces fought several battles near Vienna where Querfurt lived. He died in the Austrian capital in 1761. Some of his works are now exhibited at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, at the National Gallery of Augsburg, others are in Berlin, Dresden, Stuttgart and Bratislava. [...] In conclusion, the discovery of this work combined with the recognition of the monogram, allows us to add to the corpus of works by August Querturt a valuable testimony of his technical skills and the confirmation that he was a talented painter even of subjects other than the genre of battles to which in the past he was exclusively attributed. Carlotta Venegoni

Period: First half of the 18th century

• Author   August Querfurt (1696, Wolfenbüttel – 1761, Vienna
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