At the Danube, c. 1870

In this early study, created around 1870, Emil Jakob Schindler (1842–1892), one of the most eminent exponents of Austrian Atmospheric Impressionism, anticipated the central concerns of his later oeuvre. He settled for a nature detail, which appears to have been selected at random, with unspectacular motifs. The painting shows a tree-lined path along the shore, leading into the depths. The Danube on the left becomeis a mere sideshow, though the depiction of the boat suggests a harmonious relationship between man and nature. With a palette reduced to brown and green hues, applied using broad brushstrokes, Schindler he captured the summery landscape and its weather conditions, thus affording the unassuming motif a poetic apotheosis.

AGW, 2023