Artwork
Wine Barrels Loaded onto a Sailing Barge at Vevey
Wine Barrels Loaded onto a Sailing Barge at Vevey is a graphite drawing by the Romanticist artist Johann Jakob Ulrich. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Johann Jakob Ulrich’s watercolor, dated around 1850, depicts a sailing barge loaded with wine barrels on a lake near Vevey. The composition centers on the vessel, with a dock on the left and a solitary figure attending to the cargo. A second sailboat drifts in the distance, suggesting a calm, daylight setting.
Subject & Meaning
The work records a moment of commercial activity on the Swiss lakeshore, emphasizing the transport of wine—a valuable commodity—in the mid‑nineteenth century. The solitary dockhand and the orderly arrangement of barrels convey both the labor involved and the orderly rhythm of lakeside trade.
Technique & Style
Executed in watercolor over graphite on wove paper, the piece employs a restrained palette of warm earth tones. Soft, fluid brushstrokes render the water’s surface and sky, while finer graphite lines delineate the rigging and barrel textures, reflecting Ulrich’s careful observation within a Romantic‑leaning naturalism.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1850, the drawing belongs to Ulrich’s body of work documenting Swiss landscapes and everyday scenes. Its provenance traces through private collections before entering a museum holding, where it serves as an example of mid‑century Swiss genre watercolor.
Artist & collection
