Small Apple Tree, c. 1875

Like a still life, Rudolf Ribarz (1848–1904) presents the Small Apple Tree in the foreground of the painting, cropped on three sides by the edges of the picture. Between and behind the thin branches, a view of a river and a small village unfolds in the background. The artist, who counts among the Austrian atmospheric impressionists, contrastively depicts the slender trunk and branches as dark lines against the light. The play of light and shadow continues in the brightly luminous sun reflexes on the leaves and apples, which are characterized by strongly sculptural corporeality. This also becomes evident in an anecdotal detail—a snail crawling up the trunk. What we see here is the poetry of everyday life, which the Austrian atmospheric impressionist often brings into play in a subtle brownish tone that the entire picture is steeped in.

AGW, 2021