Mallows, c. 1890

In his painting Mallows, landscape painter Rudolf Ribarz (1848–1904) puts the focus on the depiction of a summer atmosphere with tall flowers in the foreground, which already indicate his increased interest in flower painting in the late 1890s. The artist creates a synthesis between the distinctly sculptured plants in the foreground and the scenic background, a stretch of sandy plain leading to a village. The high horizon causes rapid perspective foreshortening. Bright sunlight lies over the picture, the surfaces reflecting it are given a charming look with nimbly applied white heightening. After 15 years in France, the artist, known for his poetic realism, returned to Vienna, where he took on a professorship of flower, animal, and ornamental painting at the Arts-and-Crafts School in 1892.

AGW, 2021