"The landowner riding across his field"

(1884 Neustadt an der Haardt - 1957 Bad Dürkheim) "Landowner Riding Across His Field". Original title: "The estate owner riding on an apple-grey horse with a virtuosically free style and a bright, pastel color palette against the backdrop of the Palatinate landscape in the Bad Dürkheim area." This work is a typical example of the late Impressionist style, characterized by a virtuoso brushstroke technique and a bright, pastel color scheme. Dill studied at the Munich Academy from 1908 to 1914 and was a student of the animal painter Heinrich von Zügel, who introduced him to plein air painting and Impressionism. Equestrian and horse motifs, as well as lions and other big cats, were central themes in Dill's work from the very beginning. By the summer of 1917, Dill already had his first sufficiently extensive collection of 10 oil paintings and 15 drawings exhibited at the Munich Glass Palace. As a member of the Munich section, he participated in various exhibitions of the art society in 1922. In 1924, he was awarded the title of professor. In 1930, the artist moved from Munich to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and in 1941 he moved to Bad Dürkheim, where he lived and worked until his death in 1957. Alongside Max Slevogt, Otto Dill is considered one of the most important artists of classical modernism in the Palatinate. Oil on canvas; signed; on the reverse of the painting is a large cotton label tag with embroidered estate information and the number 296, made by Emmy Dorothea Dill (1886-1967), the artist's widow; also on the frame is a stamp "Prof. Otto Dill Bad Dürkheim" and two estate labels, one of which is signed and dated 1952. 70 cm × 100 cm. Provenance: the artist's collection; Emmy Dorothea Dill (1886-1967); a private German collection in Rhineland-Palatinate.