Heinrich von Zügel devoted his entire life to the art of animal painting, showing a particular interest in the depiction of farm and domestic animals. A tribute to his childhood, sheep and cattle played a central role in his works throughout his life. The painting offered here shows a rural scene with a farmer moving his cows to, or from, the pasture. While starting out with an academic approach to painting, Zügel later adopted an Impressionist style. The artist liked to paint outside his studio to capture the play of light. Working with rapid brushstrokes and an impasto paint application technique, Zügel created charming portrayals of animals which focus on the relationship between man and beast.
In his role as professor at the Karlsruhe and Munich Art Academies, he introduced his students to the so-called “Zügelschule” style of painting. His summer months were spent in the countryside producing numerous landscape and animal paintings. For the rural population, who provided the artist with particularly attractive and well-behaved animals to serve as models, these visits were a profitable source of income. So-called “Malbuben” (painter boys) carried the painting utensils or posed as models themselves. [JK]