Printed with energetic black lines and hatching against cream white paper, dozens of sheep graze in the deep shadows cast by a grove of trees in this horizontal landscape etching. The horizon runs lengthwise across the center of the sheet, and the sheep graze between two neat rows of trees that recede into the distance. The ground gently rises on either side of the sheep, and the trees lean in toward the center. A dark form near the middle of the flock could be a shepherd or thick tree stump. The print is inscribed in graphite in the lower margin to the right, “MLiebermann.”

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Herd of Sheep Under Trees

Max Liebermann (German, 1847 - 1935)

1891

Medium: etching and soft-ground etching on japan paper
Classification: Print
Dimensions: plate: 19.7 x 23.9 cm (7 3/4 x 9 7/16 in.) ; sheet: 39.3 x 59.2 cm (15 1/2 x 23 5/16 in.)
Culture: German
Museum: National Gallery of Art, CG-W
Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Donner
Rights: Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

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