Ridinger, Johann Elias (Ulm 1698 – Augsburg 1767). The Redop at the Wall right. Wide place with a group of four riders, of which one redops with the assistance of an instructor and a groom. In the middle another instructor bringing a groom before the equerry entering the scene from the portal of a ruin. In the front a boar hound following the redop, closely beside another one standing, as not accidentally, see below. Pen and brown ink with grey wash with slight pencil sketch in the upper left. (1722.) 210 x 336 mm.

The original drawing before being side-inverted for the preparation of the etching for plate 15 – Thienemann 620 – of the first riding school as the wonderful evidence of the perfection of style Ridinger had already reached in the early age of 24 as stated repeatedly already with regard to others of his early works.

So Nebehay 88,2 in respect of the 1721 drawing to Th. 1: “Hence this drawing is of importance for the knowledge of his style already perfect in young years.” And generally Thienemann for the capabilities after his return – not before 1719 – from the three-year stay in the house of Baron/Count Metternich in Regensburg: “… so that all connoisseurs admired him for his skill and power reached as well in historic as animal pieces.” And in such a way corresponding with

“ In art great caliber is present in its perfection from the beginning .

Also  the  first  works  of  an  artist  have  this  caliber

already in themselves , in their originality , in their perfect shape . There is nothing of that development of the artist of which there is so much speaking .

There  is  not  any  development  of  the  great  caliber  in  art “

(Gershom Scholem in his 1958 laudatory on Samuel Josef Agnon quoted after Itta Shedletzky in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 7, 2007).

The etchings for the 23-sheet-suite, however, were done by Johann Daniel Herz I and Johann Balthasar Probst for Jeremias Wolff, all situated in Augsburg, who published the suite in 1722. Signature and date of the drawings – with these now 18 leaves are traced to have overcome to us – to be found on the title: JOH: ELIAS: RIDINGER: invenit et delineavit Anno 1722. Kind and typing of the inscription quite according to the one of an Alexander-the-Great-drawing of 1723.

Here now the instruction of the redop, described in the etching as “In the saddle one shall pose straight and upright …”.

The ruins reminding of southernly models and thus surely a reverence to Italy to where Ridinger was on the point of going to during his apprenticeship at Ulm only a few years earlier.

Intentionally in any case the boar hounds as we find such, obviously thought as trademark, also on the sheets of his Alexander cycle of the same early years. So such one chases along in the battle turmoil of the “Siege of the Capital Halicarnassos” (Th. 917, available here per 14,869) as well as one swims along on the “Tigris Crossing” (Th. 918; 14,854). And “Ridinger hounds” take part then, too, on the 1723 drawing “Alexander at the Hyphasis in the Indian Punjab in autumn 326 BC” (14,680). By the way placed always next to the signature.

Although Ridinger created five riding schools with 111 etchings alltogether, one has to go back to Weigel’s inheritance listed in the 1869 Catalogue of a Collection of Original Drawings including a Special Section “Johann Elias Ridinger’s Bequest in Drawings” to find the pictorial drawings belonging to this part of his rich œuvre: only 12 works partly dated 1744 to 1760 (nos. 816-827).

The 19-sheet-lot 828 may well have consisted of studies just as in view of riding schools no. 318 with its 305 leaves “Studies, Outlining(s) and executed Drawings of Horses and their Races, Riding School, in black and red chalk resp., pen and ink, of the years 1717 to 1760”. Otherwise the works in question would surely have been included within the section of “Riding School” of lots 816 ff.

Also within the 234 drawings contained in 146 lots of the “Fine Collection of Drawings and Engravings by Joh. El. Ridinger of the Possession of a renown Collector” sold at the Wawra auction in Vienna on May 19 ff, 1890 not one pictorial drawing on this theme is to be found.

According to our admittedly not complete but comprehensive archive there are only those bare preparatory drawings and studies which appeared single or in groups on the market since Weigel. As a more comprehensive collection at last a lot of chalk drawings of which 26 belonged to the Small Riding School of 1760/61 traded hereself in 1987.

This only interupted by two earlier events, followed by the one here :

In 1986 Prince Johannes of Thurn und Taxis entered five drawings for Ridinger’s New Riding School into the tombola of the Ball of the Press in Bonn. This prize was the only one not entered in the ball’s almanack with its worth. “Connoisseurs therefore assumed that

(Bonner General-Anzeiger May 26, 1986).

Five years later a set of 16 completely executed original drawings in the same direction as the etchings of the 23-leaved New Riding Skills of 1722 debuted with an estimation of 360,000 marks at an auction. All mounted at the beginning of the 19^th century and fancily bordered on the mounting paper in black ink, on the sides additionally with a  line  of  horseshoes  crescending  from  top  and  bottom . This finally mounted on a wooden frame and than framed in black and bronze frame.

This stock counted up to the recent time at least 18 works, but was decimated by two by way of separation. These – see also offer no. 28,071 – presented in the same kind as described above. For more timeless presentation only the black and bronze frames have been removed, the drawings themselves set into acidfree passepartouts with gilt stamped artist’s name and dates, covering also the additional edging as being not originally intended by Ridinger.

The condition at first glance dominated by a wipe-trace left of the ruins which irrespective of an undermixed slight green hue might have been caused by the artist himself since the sketch of a horse shimmers through. Thus granting the much desired look over the master’s shoulder. In the upper part of this wipe small outbreaks, perhaps caused by a worm. Additionally a small, nearly invisible discolouration accompanied by a small wormhole at the right margin. A small brown spot in the lower middle and tiny foxing in the heaven of no interest. The drawing itself of wonderful plasticity. And generally enthusing the vigour of the drawing itself mirroring the youthfullness of the artist himself.

The virginity of both the drawings offered here as well as that other part of the stock can be supposed as being a lot more ancient than back to Weigel. Just as with other works of the early twenties Ridinger did not engrave himself, e. g. for the group of Alexander and Pharaoh, for which the drawings cannot be traced neither with Weigel, who took over the artistic estate in 1830, nor otherwise, the drawings for the Riding School of 1722 seem to have been passed over to the publisher. Later on they obviously went their own way without touching the documented market. To this

thrill  of  being  preserved  extraordinarily

comes – since nevertheless artistically complete – the fascination of great earlyness accompanied by being embedded within the evolution of cultural history:

“ Art history looks at Ridinger not only as the perfectionist of the hunting etching of the 18^th century, but also the masterly interpreter of the depiction of the rider and the horse …

“ It should … be remembered that the pure artistic interest in the horse is a main part of western art history since antiquity, since the origin of the Parthenon frieze … Only in the renaissance the (equestrian art) flourished with new liveliness. First in the frescos of Benozzo Gozzoli and Vittorio Carpaccio, in the drawings of Pisanello and Leonardo da Vinci … It was reserved to the Dutch to develop masterly realism in depicting the horse …

“ With this we are at the preconditions for the art of Ridinger. It can be assumed that he became acquainted with Dutch horse pictures in Augsburg. They were available in engravings and were sometimes copied as well. From such models which might have been mediated to him by his tutor Rugendas and from the indepth study of the animals theirselves he developed his quite personal mastery in depicting the horse. One feels the pleasure about viewing the living creature, about the harmonic concurrence of anatomy and movement, about the inner symmetry of horse and rider, last but not least also by the elegance of attitude characterizing all engravings of Ridinger ”

(Herbert Schindler in the introduction of the facsimile edition of 1975 of the Small Riding School).

If there is the question of elegance then there should also be mentioned Karl Sälzle’s, who in 1980 prefaced the edition of the facsimile of the stock of drawings for the suite of the Fair Game by saying:

(space and bold typing not in the original).

Offer no. 28,072  /  price on request

“ Beautiful Rugendas colour print arrived! Thanks very much for keeping me informed. Best regards ”

(Mr. J. R. L., June 11, 2004)