Friedrich Bouterwek

Pastoral Scene

19th century

View of the Bergsee is an original modern artwork realized by the Austrian artist and painter Josef Brunner in the middle of the XIX Century. Original Oil painting on Canvas cm. 72 x 3 x 102 (canvas). A beautiful original XIX Century decorated frame is included (total dimensions: 100 x 5 x 130). Both the work and the canvas are in very good conditions. Beautiful and intense oil painting depicting the Austrian mountain lake Bergsee. The painting is characterized by a particular play between lights and shadows: the light indeed is distributed in an extremely suffused but homogeneous way on the view but it is also able to create that sense of magic that characterized the whole landscape. The color of the lake therefore assumes a transparency and an iridescent blue that tends to the green and reflects the color of the surrounding mountains. The sky appears full of rainy clouds but they still allow the rays of the last sun to shine on. The general vision conveys calm and tranquility thanks also to the refined use of color and the play of lights and shadows, the turquoise and the pale opaque blue of the lake is perfectly emphasized by the various green tones of the trees. The white, gray and light brown rocky mountains embrace the lake and the cloudy sky in shades of blue increases the feeling of tranquility. The landscape is desolate; the only signs of life are the three fishermen on the shore: they are three small figures painted in different poses and illuminated by the light too. The surface of the water reflects in a spectacular way the surrounding landscape, it is similar to the surface of a mirror. The style, fantastic and almost dreamy, is into the full Germanic Romanticism. Mindful of Caspar David Friedrich's memoirs (Greifswald, 1774 - Dresda, 1840), the author certainly took his cue from the style of the German and the Austrian Romanticism; tangible signs of Romantic painting are the choice of the subject, an uncontaminated Nordic landscape, and the almost fairytale atmosphere that we find in the composition. This wonderful Romantic painting was created by the Austrian artist Josef Brunner (Wien, 1826 - Wien, 1893). Joseph Brunner was the son of Joseph...

Oil on board realized by Massimo Sonnini (1937) in 2000. Hand signed and dated. Very good condition.