The recent discovery of an early painting of German genre painter Carl Wilhelm Hübner marks the first known work of a serious German artist that covers student dueling.
by J. Christoph Amberger
Baltimore, MD— An unknown painting from the formative period of the German Romantic painter Carl Wilhelm Hübner was recently discovered in the art collection of a private fencing history archive in Baltimore, Maryland.
The oil painting measures 46.5 cm by 60.5 cm and depicts a pair of fencers in the costumes of the early 19th century.
Hübner (born June 17, 1814 in Königsberg; died Dec. 5, 1879 in Düsseldorf, Germany) was a German genre and landscape painter of the Romantic period. He received first art instruction by Professor Johann Eduard Wolff in his home town of Königsberg, which then was part of the kingdom of Prussia. Wolff referred Hübner to the Düsseldorf Academy (Kunstakademie) in 1837, where he studied under Wilhelm von Schadow and Carl Ferdinand Sohn until 1841.
Today, he is considered the pre-eminent representative of the Düsseldorf School (Düsseldorfer Malerschule).
Hübners main works are oil paintings depicting scenes of human and social conflict, from the everyday life of thieves, smugglers, poachers, and emigrants. His most famous work is The Silesian Weavers (Die schlesischen Weber), in which the great social and political conflicts of the 19th century find expression. This particular picture drew critical and popular acclaim when it was exhibited in Cologne, Berlin and other German cities in 1844.
Hübner expert Dr. Lilian Landes of the Bavarian State Library call Hübner the only German genre painter of his era who “visually carried the social movement that shaped the bourgeoisie outward”. (1)
Early Work
Dr. Landes believes that the recent discovery is a “very early study”:
“The theme argues in favor of this assumption—a typical historicizing theme of the Düsseldorfer Schule, which in my opinion he wouldn’t have painted after 1843. The execution, too, indicates obvious (and uncertain) experimentation with perspective and posture, and leaves space for further development. I would agree to a creation date between 1839 and 1843 (with a tendency toward 1841/42).” (2)
The theme itself has no parallels in the serious visual arts of 19th-century Germany:
The central pair of fencers is armed with bell-guard cutting rapiers (Glockenschläger). This kind of sword was used almost exclusively among German fraternity students at universities east of the River Elbe. Anglo-American popular opinion associates these fraternities mostly with Heidelberg, although they are common at all German, Austrian and Swiss universities.
The Student Prince
The scene itself, however, does not depict a “Mensur” or student duel proper, but a Paukboden or fencing loft, where students practiced for encounters with sharp weapons.
This assumption is corroborated but the absence of seconds and umpires, the noticeable passivity of the spectators, and not least the missing colored caps and tri-colored ribbons that would identify the respective fraternities involved in a formal encounter.
The locality appears to be an (unheated) room dedicated to the exercise of fencing and swordplay. This fencing loft or salle has no artificial illumination. Plaster is falling from the walls, a rough plank floor and lack of furniture indicate a purely utilitarian room.
To the left and right of the double door, wooden racks are permanently installed on the wall to hold fencing weapons… foils, Schlägers and sabers. This collection of strictly utilitarian and civilian fencing weapons indicates a highly specific fencing activity, which at this time was almost exclusively offered by fencing masters in the pay of German universities.
Even some of the spectators appear to have been involved in fencing exercises: At the feet of the seated figure, we see a fencing saber with a curved blade, as well as a heavily padded cut-fencing glove.
Given Hübner’s personal vita, plausible locations for this scene could be th Prussian universities of Königsberg and Breslau… Düsseldorf at this point in time had no university proper, and later on used basket-hilt rather than bell-guard Schlägers for student fencing.
Real-life models?
According to Dr. Landes, it cannot be ruled out that Hübner furnished this study “with portraits of real people (the fencer on the right, for example, and the two spectators on and right behind the chair have portrait-like characteristics. (…) They could be ‘stock’ pieces Hübner applied to the figures,—a typical way of working at the Düsseldorf Academy at the time. Hübner also might have brought sketches of such interiors and activities from Königsberg. But it could be much more banal, for example, the work could have been a theme given to his painting class, for which existing paintings of interiors and weapons may have existed at the Academy.” (4)
The painting was purchased from an antiquarian book dealer in eastern Germany in 2006. During cleaning and restauration work, the restorer identified the artist’s signature as Hübner’s. Earlier this year, the painting was positively identified and ascribed to Hübner’s opus.
Ahigh quality reproduction of this oil painting has been issued by Baltimore-based Secret Archives Press LLC. It is printed on canvas and stretched on a wooden frame, and can be customized to your size requirements. Contact us for available sizes and pricing.
“Der Paukboden,” (The Fencing Loft), oil on canvas, 60.5 x 46.5 cm, signed in the lower right-hand corner: “Hübner”; c. 1840. Amberger Collection, Baltimore (USA)
Footnotes:
(1) Landes, Lilian Carl Wilhelm Hübner (1814-1879), Genre and Zeitgeschichte im deutschen Vormärz,München, Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2008; p. 442;
(2) Private emaill communication, Feb. 19, 2010;
(3) Private email communication, Feb. 21, 2010.
