Lot 103 Dα

Otto Grashof led a somewhat unusal life for the 19th century. Born in Prenzlau, he grew up in Cologne and studied at the Academies of Düsseldorf and Berlin. The artist resided in Russia as of 1838, first in St. Petersburg and then in Moscow from 1841 - 43, before returning to St. Petersburg in 1845. Grashof spent the following years in Germany, before travelling via Spain to South America in 1852. Here he visited Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, before returning to Cologne in 1857. As of 1862 he pursued a career as an author with varying success, before dying in Cologne at the age of 63.
The present work, with its rather macabre theme taking place in a Russian winter landscape, was painted during the artist's Moscow phase.