Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Sale: Dorotheum, Vienna, 28 November 1967, lot 133
Purchased at the above sale by the father of the present owner

St Anna & Vienna, Akademie Ausstellung, 1838, no. 133

Bruno Grimschitz, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Salzburg, 1957, p. 322, no. 502
Rupert Feuchtmüller, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Leben, Schriften, Werke, Vienna, 1996, p. 112, mentioned, p. 472, catalogued, no. 547, illustrated

The present work is presented in a period gilt Biedemeier wood frame, in good condition. The following condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar Ltd., of 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The artist's panel is providing a secure and stable structural support. Paint surface The paint surface has a relatively even varnish layer. There is a faint horizontal scratch within the varnish layers running through the upper centre of the composition. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows a discoloured varnish layer which covers the foreground of the composition, and it appears the painting has been selectively cleaned in the past. Inspection under ultra-violet light also shows very minor scattered spots of retouching within the sky, several spots and lines to left of the waterfall, and some further small spots to the buildings in the lower right quadrant of the composition. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in very good and stable condition, and while no work is required for reasons of conservation, cleaning would improve the painting's overall appearance.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted in 1837, the present work is a tour de force by Austria's leading painter of the Biedermeier. Primarily known for his genre paintings, Waldmüller himself considered the artist’s calling to be the representation of nature. As he wrote in 1846: ‘Nature must be the only source and sum of our studies, it is in she alone that truth and beauty are to be found’.

In this exquisite depiction of Wildbad Gastein, a fashionable spa town in the Salzburg region of Austria where the international upper classes would go to take the waters, the fidelity to nature is self-evident. Schubert was inspired to write the Gastein Symphony by the beauty of these surroundings, and the scene was depicted by other contemporary artists and print-makers (fig. 1). Here Waldmüller builds up a symphony of colour in his acute attention to the play of light and shadow in the rich greens of the mountainside. The subtle, interwoven textures of the trees and stone are juxtaposed with the harsh force of the tumbling water and the simple lines of the buildings to produce the depth and clarity that are connected with Waldmüller’s pure Naturalism. Accordingly, the present work bears witness to the artist’s claim that ‘Truth and Nature’ was his sole aim and guide, and rests in his œuvre as a perfect example of his dedication to open air painting.