"The owner of the estate riding across his field"

(1884 Neustadt an der Hardt – 1957 Bad Dürkheim) "Landowner Riding Across His Field." Original title: "The Estate Owner Riding an Apple Bay Stallion with a Virtuosically Free Style and a Bright, Pastel Color Palette Against the Background of the Palatinate Landscape in the Bad Dürkheim Area." This work is a typical example of the late Impressionist style, characterized by virtuoso brushwork and a bright, pastel color scheme. Dill studied at the Munich Academy from 1908 to 1914 and was a student of animal painter Heinrich von Zügel, who introduced him to plein air painting and Impressionism. Equestrian motifs and horse themes, as well as lions and other big cats, were the main subjects of Dill’s works from the very beginning. In the summer of 1917, Dill already had his first fairly 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 art society exhibitions 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 relocated to Bad Dürkheim, where he lived and worked until his death in 1957. Together with 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 information about the estate and the number 296, made by Emmy Dorothea Dill (1886–1967), the artist’s widow; the frame also bears the stamp "Prof. Otto Dill Bad Dürkheim" and two estate labels, one of which is signed and dated 1952. 70 cm × 100 cm. Provenance: artist’s collection; Emmy Dorothea Dill (1886–1967); private German collection in Rhineland-Palatinate.