A rare collection of portraits from Berlin.

(1858 Radeburg - 1929 Berlin) Collection of 13 sketch sheets with portrait studies. Rare, extraordinary compilation of male and female portraits from a highly esteemed sketchbook created by Zille himself, half of which is still present. They reflect a sharp observational ability, as developed by the equally talented draftsman Adolph von Menzel (1815 - 1905) before him. Stylistically and technically, due to the partially fine, detailed, realistic depiction and the use of pencil, these sheets are likely to have been created around 1900 or maybe even earlier. Mostly, he portrays heads in profile to capture the distinctive, characteristic, individual, but also "types" of his contemporaries from young to old in Berlin, especially in his "Milljöh" in Charlottenburg. One sheet is explicitly titled "Neighbors" by Zille. In the background of these drawings stands the instruction he received from the painter, illustrator, and caricaturist Theodor Hosemann (1807 - 1875), a humorous and precise observer of the old Berlin petty bourgeoisie and philistines. Hosemann advised his student Zille to "go out on the street, into the open, observe yourself, that is better than imitating (...). Pencil/paper, in an album with brown cardboard passe-partout pages. Each signed; 8-13.5 x 9 cm - 17 cm (passe-partout cutout). Album described; Provenance: Auction Bassenge, Berlin, 26.11.2011, Lot 8348.