Read the visual description
This is a drawing featuring whimsical illustrations and decorative text. Intricate elements include ornate lettering and playful figures scattered across the page. In the upper left corner, there's a person in a decorative frame wearing a top hat. Below, there are figures of musicians playing drums and a small person with a dog on a leash. The text flows with embellishments and curls, displaying a decorative script. Various curly lines and motifs fill the spaces between the text and figures, adding artistic complexity to the piece.
National Gallery of Art · Drawing
A New Year's Greeting
Adolph Menzel
- Date
- 1839
- Medium
- pen and black ink
- Dimensions
- sheet: 8.7 x 11.8 cm (3 7/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
- Classification
- Drawing
- Accession number
- 2009.36.1
- Credit line
- Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
- Time span
- 1826 to 1850
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- calligraphic elements
- calligraphic
Provenance
Dr. Friedrich Puhlmann, Berlin(?) (on basis of the greeting--see Williamstown, 1979, no. 43, as in Exhibitions). (Schatzki Gallery, New York); Professor Julius S. Held, VT, purchased 1964; (sale, Christie's New York, 27 January 2009, no. 17); (via Jill Newhouse, New York); purchased 2009 by NGA.
Inscription
across face of card, in black ink: Ihnen Verehrter, Ihrer Lieben / Frau und Schwiegermutter und Respetabeln / und vortrefflichem / Wünscht im Lauf der 1839 doe bestem Amüsements der Unterzeichnete; across verso: Zur Intelligenz! / Falls ein gewisses Album nicht mit nach Holland gewandelt ist, wo sich aller= / dings das in Rede stehende Objeckt nicht schlecht / conservieren würde, so bittet Unterzeichneter, / selbiges ihm auf mehrere kleine Weilchen / in Pension zu geben / verspätet zure Post gegeben; by later hand, lower right verso : AMenzel
NGA object ID 142935. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.