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Picture Postcards from the Alps

Visit the evocative Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller exhibition at the National Gallery in London and you could think it was sponsored by the Austrian Tourist Board, because these oil paintings so beautifully depict the magnificent Alpine scenery that has long attracted visitors.  Those towering mountains with their craggy grey peaks, so high they're topped with a glacier, the rich green meadows, some above the treeline, others on lower slopes or down in the valleys where the rivers meander. It's all there. But look a little longer and you become aware that some things are missing; where are those familiar chairlifts, cable cars, broad ski pistes, railways and roads? There are only a scattering of houses; maybe just a few inns and hotels catering for the adventurous, for Austrian tourism is in its infancy. That's because Waldmüller was born in Vienna in 1793 and died near the Vienna Woods in 1865.  Waldmüller: Landscapes , a free single-room display of just over a dozen paintings...
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Picture Postcards from the Alps

Visit the evocative Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller exhibition at the National Gallery in London and you could think it was sponsored by the Austrian Tourist Board, because these oil paintings so beautifully depict the magnificent Alpine scenery that has long attracted visitors. 

Those towering mountains with their craggy grey peaks, so high they're topped with a glacier, the rich green meadows, some above the treeline, others on lower slopes or down in the valleys where the rivers meander. It's all there.

But look a little longer and you become aware that some things are missing; where are those familiar chairlifts, cable cars, broad ski pistes, railways and roads? There are only a scattering of houses; maybe just a few inns and hotels catering for the adventurous, for Austrian tourism is in its infancy. That's because Waldmüller was born in Vienna in 1793 and died near the Vienna Woods in 1865. 

Waldmüller: Landscapes, a free single-room display of just over a dozen paintings, brings us views of those Vienna Woods and the Prater park in the Austrian capital (long before it became known for the giant Ferris wheel featured in The Third Man). But more spectacular are the very precisely rendered paintings of the Salzkammergut area of lakes and mountains, not too far from Salzburg, and the nearby Dachstein range. 

You can see the Dachstein, rising to nearly 3000 metres, in our first picture and again below, both views from close to the spa town of Ischl. 

The mountain huts and group of women provide some sense of scale as we gaze across at Lake Hallstatt and the mighty glacier beyond. 

Waldmüller used distinct changes in tonality to pick out the different layers of landscape receding into the background, as here where we admire the view south-west across Lake Wolfgang, with the summit of the Wieslerhorn standing out on the left.   
There are paintings of Sicily in this exhibition too, but somehow the ruins of Taormina and Mount Etna as seen by Waldmüller can't quite compete with the majesty of the Alps.  

You get a real feel for the precision of the artist's work from his self-portrait, dressed to impress potential clients perhaps. This painting from 1828 certainly shows how he could reproduce the cloudy sky and lush landscape, and also that exuberant combination of waistcoat and cravat. His eyes are observing the viewer intently, and the delicate peony at his side both dates the picture to the season and demonstrates his skill as a flower painter.  

For our last picture, let's turn to a late work; it's very reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites, and we're told that the Austrian would have had the opportunity to see their output on a trip to London in 1856.  
The children in this painting do admittedly have that Victorian cutesy feel, but we were so impressed with the depiction of the trees: The flaky bark on the trunks and those delicately thin twig-like branches are so true to life. The spring blossom and patches of snow make it clear that it's Early Spring in the Vienna Woods.

So, anyone for a trip to Austria? 

Practicalities

Waldmüller: Landscapes is on at the National Gallery in London until September 20, and entry to this one-room show is free of charge. The gallery is open daily from 1000 to 1800 (1900 till August 31), and until 2100 on Fridays. We spent about 15 minutes in the display. 

The National Gallery is on the north side of Trafalgar Square, just a couple of minutes from Charing Cross or Leicester Square stations on the rail and Underground networks.

Images

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793-1865), The Dachstein from the Sophien-Doppelblick near Ischl, 1835. © Belvedere, Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, View of the Dachstein with Lake Hallstatt Seen from the Hütteneckalm near Ischl, 1838. © Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Lake Wolfgang, 1835. © Belvedere, Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Self-Portrait as a Young Man, 1828. © Belvedere, Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Early Spring in the Vienna Woods, 1861. © Belvedere, Vienna

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