Stehender Schimmel

This 1902 work by Max Slevogt, painted on cardboard, represents a common practice among Impressionist-influenced painters of making rapid, exploratory studies on unconventional supports. Cardboard was inexpensive, readily available, and required minimal preparation, making it ideal for plein air sketches, compositional experiments, and works made quickly from observation or improvisation. Slevogt's use of cardboard in 1902 — a year after his Sadayakko portraits and other major works — suggests a distinction in his practice between finished exhibition pieces and exploratory works on more provisional supports. This is not to diminish works on cardboard: many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, including Toulouse-Lautrec, preferred cardboard for its particular absorbent quality, which pulls the oil medium quickly from the paint and creates a distinctive matte surface. The slightly different visual character of paint on cardboard compared to canvas gives such works a specific freshness.

Cardboard as a support absorbs oil binder rapidly, resulting in a matte surface that differs markedly from the slightly glossy finish of varnished canvas. Slevogt must manage the faster drying time and the more absorptive ground, which can make blending difficult. The result is typically more direct and less revised than equivalent canvas works, with a characteristic freshness of first stroke.