City by the Sea, undated

The wealth of his family, owners of the Böhler steel plant, afforded Hans Böhler (1884–1961) not only the financial freedom to pursue his work as a painter but also the possibility to embark on numerous travels. From 1910, he visited Asia as well as North and South America, worked in various European countries and lived in Switzerland and the US. However, he invariably returned to his hometown of Vienna. Many of his landscapes were inspired by his travel impressions. In his harmonious compositions, he increasingly dispensed with outlines, and instead defined architecture and nature by means of planes of lively colors. The highly abstracted landscapes, full of tranquil elegance, glow in an interplay of warm hues and contrasting shadows, as if illuminated by the setting evening sun.