Walther GASCH

A youthful work by the German painter, draughtsman and printmaker Walther Gasch, this vibrant oil sketch on paper depicts a silver birch tree (Betula pendula), also known as a European white birch, which is found throughout Europe and in parts of Asia. (In southern parts of its range, however, it is usually only found at higher altitudes.) The tree owes its name to the silvery-white, peeling bark of its trunk.

The present sheet was likely drawn when Gasch was a student at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Dresden, where from 1905 onwards he trained under Emanuel Hegenbarth and Oskar Zwintscher, and later with Richard Müller. He undertook study trips to France, Italy and Holland, and in the early part of his career painted mainly landscapes, still life subjects and portraits, as well as studies of animals and birds.