Landscape with Farmhouse, c. 1825

Friedrich Gauermann (1807–1862) is considered a pioneering exponent of landscape naturalism in Austrian Biedermeier painting. Along with the area surrounding his birthplace and hometown of Miesenbach in Lower Austria, the Salzkammergut Region and Berchtesgadener Land, which he regularly visited in the summer months from 1824 onwards, were among the main sources of inspiration for his compositions. This painting from his early oeuvre shows a simple and clear depiction of nature without a heightened sense of drama. Gauermann rendered a landscape near Berchtesgaden in bright summer sunlight, staggering the depiction’s spatial depth into clearly distinguishable sections according to the perspective of air and color. The foreground is dominated by an ocher color, the middle ground with the farmhouse under high leaf trees by a green hue, while the mountain backdrop is shrouded in a light blue mist. The pictorial impression is dominated by delicate effects of atmosphere and light.

AGW, 2023