Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. Numbered verso on the stretcher by hand "aa 119". 62.5 x 96.5 cm.

• Koester was fascinated with the visual allure of the genre: he used light and color to capture the fleeting impression of the plumage, the reflections of sunlight on the water, and movement in a free, impressionistic style.
• Koester modernized the animal and bird genre, which goes back to 17th-century Dutch painting, by making it purely pictorial.
• His depictions of ducks were very popular and found their way into collections and museums: Emperor Wilhelm II purchased the duck painting “Siesta” in 1900, while King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy followed suit in 1907.