Cows in the sandy hollow path

On their legendary hike in the late summer of 1889, Oskar Frenzel and his painter friend Paul Müller-Kaempff unexpectedly arrived in Ahrenshoop. The remote village, far from the hustle and bustle of tourism, seemed to them like a relic from a bygone era. Cows and sheep grazed on the Bodden meadows and conveyed images of rural peace. For the animal painter Oskar Frenzel, they were happy motifs. Born in Berlin, he studied at the art academy under Paul Meyerheim and Eugen Bracht from 1884. In 1898 he was one of the founders of the Berlin Secession, to which he belonged until 1902. His artistic development was thus entirely influenced by the German Impressionism that was becoming established. Oskar Frenzel received external inspiration on this path during his stays in Ahrenshoop, on Fischland and Darß. Around 1900 he painted "Cows in a sandy hollow way" there - a picture that may be regarded as the outstanding result of his examination of light and movement. His brushwork is loose and sets clear accents. The nuanced play of colours of shimmering sun spots on the dense foliage of the trees, the reflections of light on the well-trodden sandy path and the bodies of individual animals, which only appear for seconds, are masterfully captured. Through an idiosyncratic diagonal composition, he also lent the picture dynamism and tension.