google.com, pub-0288379932320714, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 GRAVIR LES MONTAGNES... EN PEINTURE: EDWARD T. COMPTON (1849-1921)
Showing posts with label EDWARD T. COMPTON (1849-1921). Show all posts
Showing posts with label EDWARD T. COMPTON (1849-1921). Show all posts

Saturday, April 13, 2019

THE ORTLER BY EDWARD T. COMPTON


EDWARD T. COMPTON (1849-1921)
Ortler (3,905 m -12,812 ft)
Italy (South Tyrol) 

In The Ortler South Tyrol, watercolour on paper,  26 x 37cm, John Mitchell Gallery 

The mountain 
The Ortler (3,905 m -12,812 ft) is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of the Italian province of South Tyrol, of Tyrol overall, and, until 1919, of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. In German the mountain is commonly referred to as "König Ortler" (King Ortler), like in the unofficial hymn of South Tyrol, the Bozner Bergsteigerlied.
The Ortler Alps were one of the main battlegrounds between Austrian and Italian troops in the First World War, being on the border of Italy and the Austrian Empire. The advantage of owning the highest point was very important. The Austrian troops had quickly occupied the highest peaks, and the Italian troops' main goal, for four years, was to dislodge them from the positions. In the mid-1990s, a mountain guide discovered two guns that had been stationed very near the top of the Ortler but had been hidden by snow ever since. The discovery was kept secret until the 200th anniversary of the first ascent in 2004. The cannons are now on display in a museum in Trafoi.

The painter 
Edward Theodore Compton, usually referred to as E. T. Compton, (1849 – 1921) was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber, not to be confused with his son Edward Harrison Compton, also a mountain painter. He is well known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Initially painting in the English romantic tradition, Compton later developed a more realistic representation of nature, being guided by his true artistic ideas while retaining topographical accuracy. Even his early watercolors show the great importance of brightness and light and his work is also remarkable for its portrayal of the elements such as water and air, including ascending mist and fog. He can be regarded as an impressionist.
He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art.

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

Sunday, March 3, 2019

THE WATZMANN BY EDWARD T. COMPTON




EDWARD T. COMPTON (1849-1921) 
The Watzmann (2, 713m - 8, 901ft) 
Germany 

In The Watzmann seen from the Hotel Post in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, watercolour, 26 x 23, 5cm) 
Courtesy William Mitchell Gallery, London 
The mountain
The Watzmann (2,713m - 8,901ft) is a mountain in the Bavarian Alps south of the village of Berchtesgaden. It is the third highest in Germany, and the highest located entirely on German territory. Three main peaks array on a N-S axis along a ridge on the mountain's taller western half: Hocheck (2,651 m), Mittelspitze (Middle Peak, 2,713 m) and Sьdspitze (South Peak, 2,712 m).
The Watzmann massif also includes the 2,307 m Watzmannfrau (Watzmann Wife, also known as Kleiner Watzmann or Small Watzmann), and the Watzmannkinder (Watzmann Children), five lower peaks in the recess between the main peaks and the Watzmannfrau.
The entire massif lies inside Berchtesgaden National Park.
The Watzmann Glacier is located below the famous east face of the Watzmann in the Watzmann cirque and is surrounded by the Watzmanngrat arête, the Watzmannkindern and the Kleiner Watzmann. The size of the glacier reduced from around 30 hectares (74 acres) in 1820 until it split into a few fields of firn, but between 1965 and 1980 it advanced significantly again and now has an area of 10.1 hectares (25 acres). Above and to the west of the icefield lie the remains of a transport-bomber that crashed in October 1940.
Amongst the other permanent snow and icefields the Eiskapelle ("Ice Chapel") is the best known due to its easy accessibility from St. Bartholomä. The Eiskapelle may well be the lowest lying permanent snowfield in the Alps. Its lower end is only 930 metres high in the upper Eisbach valley and is about an hour's walk from St. Bartholomä on the Königssee. The Eiskapelle is fed by mighty avalanches that slide down from the east face of the Watzmann in spring and accumulate in the angle of the rock face. Sometimes a gate-shaped vault forms in the ice at the point where the Eisbach emerges from the Eiskapelle. Before entering there is an urgent warning sign that others have been killed by falling ice.
In the east face itself is another icefield in the so-called Schöllhorn cirque, called the Schöllhorneis, which is crossed by the Kederbach Way (Kederbacher-Weg). The cirque and icefield are named after the Munich citizen, Christian Schöllhorn, who was the first victim on the east face. On 26 May 1890 he fell at the upper end of the icefield into the randkluft and was fatally injured. Another small nameless snowfield is located several hundred metres below the Mittelspitze also in the east face.


The painter
Edward Theodore Compton, usually referred to as E. T. Compton was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber, not to be confused with his son Edward Harrison Compton, also a mountain painter. He is well known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Initially painting in the English romantic tradition, Compton later developed a more realistic representation of nature, being guided by his true artistic ideas while retaining topographical accuracy. Even his early watercolors show the great importance of brightness and light and his work is also remarkable for its portrayal of the elements such as water and air, including ascending mist and fog. He can be regarded as an impressionist.
He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art. In 1867, wanting the best education for their artistically-talented son, and due to the high cost of schooling in England, the family decided to emigrate to Germany settling in Darmstadt. The city at that time was the seat of the Grand Duchy of Hesse under Grand Duke Ludwig III, and a community of artists had sprung up there. Entries in Compton's diary show that both he and his father were art teachers - Alice, the Princess of Hesse numbered amongst Edward's students.
_________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

Thursday, May 31, 2018

PIZ MORTERATSCH BY EDWARD T. COMPTON





EDWARD T. COMPTON  (1849-1921)
Piz Morteratsch (3,751 m -12,306 ft)
Switzerland
The mountain 
Piz Morteratsch (3,751 m - 12,306 ft) is a mountain in the Bernina Range in Switzerland. It is bordered on the east by the Morteratsch Glacier and on the south-west by the Tschierva Glacier. One of the easiest mountains in the range to climb, the normal route follows that taken by the first ascentionists C. Brьgger and P. Gensler with guides Karl Emmermann and Angelo Klaingutti on 11 September 1858. Three of its ridges present greater difficulties and are highly regarded:
- South-south-east ridge (D/D+), first ascent P. J. H. Unna with guides, 1903
- East-north-east ridge (AD), first ascent of complete ridge, Paul Schucan and A. Pfister, 10 October 1908 (the upper section had been climbed by Max Schintz with guides Alois Pollinger and his son Josef Pollinger of St. Niklaus in the canton Valais in August 1892)
- South-west ridge, (AD), first ascent by T. H. Philpott and Mrs Philpott with guides Peter Jenny and Alexander Fleury in September 1868
The mountain is served by the Boval hut (2,495 m, open 15 March–15 May and 15 June–15 October) and the Tschierva Hut (2,573 m, open end of March–15 May and 15 June–15 October).

The painter 
Edward Theodore Compton, usually referred to as E. T. Compton was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber, not to be confused with his son Edward Harrison Compton, also a mountain painter. He is well known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Initially painting in the English romantic tradition, Compton later developed a more realistic representation of nature, being guided by his true artistic ideas while retaining topographical accuracy. Even his early watercolors show the great importance of brightness and light and his work is also remarkable for its portrayal of the elements such as water and air, including ascending mist and fog. He can be regarded as an impressionist.
He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art. In 1867, wanting the best education for their artistically-talented son, and due to the high cost of schooling in England, the family decided to emigrate to Germany settling in Darmstadt. The city at that time was the seat of the Grand Duchy of Hesse under Grand Duke Ludwig III, and a community of artists had sprung up there. Entries in Compton's diary show that both he and his father were art teachers - Alice, the Princess of Hesse numbered amongst Edward's students.

Monday, April 23, 2018

CIMA VALDRITTA & MONTE BALDO BY EDWARD T. COMPTON


EDWARD T. COMPTON  (1849-1921)
Cima Valdritta  (2,218 m - 7,277 ft) 
Italy 

In  Malcesine am Gardasee mit Monte Baldo, 1913, oil on canvas

The mountain 
Cima Valdritta  (2,218 m - 7,277 ft) is the highest summit of the Monte Baldo mountain range and thereby part of the Garda Mountains by the Lake Garda, in northern Italy.  The Cima Valdritta summit is the highest peak of the Monte Baldo range, that roughly extends from north to south. Other prominent peaks in the range are Punta Telegrafo to the south and Cima delle Pozzette to the north. On the western slopes is the impressive Valdritta cirque. The summit is rocky and just above the tree line. 

 The painter 
Edward Theodore Compton, usually referred to as E. T. Compton was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber, not to be confused with his son Edward Harrison Compton, also a mountain painter. He is well known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Initially painting in the English romantic tradition, Compton later developed a more realistic representation of nature, being guided by his true artistic ideas while retaining topographical accuracy. Even his early watercolors show the great importance of brightness and light and his work is also remarkable for its portrayal of the elements such as water and air, including ascending mist and fog. He can be regarded as an impressionist.
He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art. In 1867, wanting the best education for their artistically-talented son, and due to the high cost of schooling in England, the family decided to emigrate to Germany settling in Darmstadt. The city at that time was the seat of the Grand Duchy of Hesse under Grand Duke Ludwig III, and a community of artists had sprung up there. Entries in Compton's diary show that both he and his father were art teachers - Alice, the Princess of Hesse numbered amongst Edward's students.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

THE GROSSGLOKNER PAINTED BY EDWARD T. COMPTON


EDWARD THEODORE COMPTON  (1849-1921)
Grossglockner  (3,798 m-12,461 ft) 
Austria

in 1918 - Alpenverein Museum Inssbruk

The mountain  
The Grossglockner (or just Glockner) is at (3,798 meters-12,461 ft) above the Adriatic, the highest mountain of Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glockner Group of the Hohe Tauern range, situated along the main ridge of the Central Eastern Alps and the Alpine divide. The Pasterze, Austria's most extended glacier, lies on the Grossglockner's eastern slope. The characteristically pyramid-shaped peak actually consists of two pinnacles, the Grossglockner and the Kleinglockner (3,770 m (12,370 ft), from German: klein, "small"), separated by a saddle-like formation known as the Glocknerscharte.
The history of the climbs started with French-born natural scientist Belsazar Hacquet, from 1773 professor of anatomy at the Academy of Ljubljana. He travelled the Eastern Alps from 1779 to 1781 and published an itinerary in 1783, describing the Glokner mountain and stating that it had not been climbed yet. He estimated the mountain's height with converted 3,793 m (12,444 ft) and left an engraving illustrating Grossglockner and Pasterze, the first known depiction of the mountain.
Inspired by Hacquet's book and the first ascent of the Mont Blanc in 1786, the Gurk prince-bishop Count Franz Xaver of Salm (1749–1822) together with his vicar general Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825) and Baron Franz Xaver von Wulfen (1728–1805) started efforts for a Grossglockner expedition. They engaged two peasants from Heiligenblut as mountain guides to do the first explorations for an ascent through the Leitertal valley, which is the side of Grossglockner with the least ice (people feared glaciers in these times). These valiant men, called "Glockners" in the records, did more than they were ordered to do - and probably reached the Kleinglockner summit on 23 July 1799.
One month later the bishop's expedition started: a mountain hut (the first Salm Hut) had been built and the path in the Leitertal valley was prepared so that the bishop could use a horse to reach it. 30 people, among them Salm, Hohenwart and Wulfen, were part of the expedition. They suffered with bad weather and a first effort failed, but on 25 August 1799 Hohenwart and at least four other people, including the two "Glockners", reached - again - the Kleinglockner, where they installed one of the first summit crosses (one of the main goals of the church expedition). Hohenwart's reports did not tell clearly that they had not touched the highest point but Bishop Salm (who had reached the Adlersruhe rock at 3,454 m (11,332 ft)) was informed. Dissatisfied, he invited another, even bigger expedition the next year.
On 28 July 1800, 62 people, among them the pedagogue Franz Michael Vierthaler and the botanist David Heinrich Hoppe, started again into the Leitertal valley. Four peasants and carpenters (the "Glockners" and two others who are not known) did a track in the snow, had installed fixed ropes at some steeper sections up to the end of the Glocknerleitl, and even built a second refuge, called Hohenwarte Hut. The vanguard reached the Kleinglockner peak, however, according to the expedition records by the Dellach priest Franz Joseph Horasch (Orasch), only the four guides and Mathias Hautzendorfer, the local priest of the Rangersdorf parish, were able to cross the Obere Glocknerscharte and climb the Grossglockner summit. Hautzendorfer had to be persuaded to venture the step and administered the last rites in advance.
The two "Glockners" are usually identified as the brothers Joseph (Sepp) and Martin Klotz, however, this surname is not listed in the Heiligenblut parish register. A local peasant named Sepp Hoysen is documented as a member of the second Grossglockner expedition in 1802, and the surveyor Ulrich Schiegg mentioned one Martin Reicher as "Glockner" guide. The peasants and several other members of the expedition (among them Schiegg and his young apprentice Valentin Stanič, who climbed Mt. Watzmann for the first time some weeks later) did the ascent again the next day and finally installed the summit cross and a barometer on the Grossglockner summit.
Bishop Salm undertook two more ascents in 1802 (with Hohenwart reaching the summit) and in 1806, however, he himself never climbed beyond the Adlersruhe rock. The climbing of the Grossglockner was also described by the botanist Josef August Schultes, who explored the massif together with Count Apponyi in 1802. No further ascents were made during the Napoleonic Wars, the huts decayed and were plundered by locals. In the following Vormärz era, however, the mountain became a popular venue for Alpinists like Hermann and Adolf Schlagintweit, who all followed the route of the first ascent.
By the mid 19th century, the developing Alpine tourism began to alter the traditional agriculture economy in the Heiligenblut area. Therefore, the people of Kals tried to lay out a straight ascent from the western side, which however was not reached until Julius von Payer explored the ridge between Glöcknerleitl and Ködnitzkees in 1863. Johann Stüdl had a via ferrata erected along the southwestern ridge the next year and the Stüdlhütte erected at its foot in 1868. Already in 1869, most expeditions to the summit started in Kals. The first winter ascent of the Grossglockner was made on January 2, 1875 by William Adolf Baillie Grohman, a member of the Alpine Club. In 1876 Count Pallavicini and his guide Hans Tribusser undertook the first expedition up the steep glaciated Northeast Face, chopping 2,500 steps into the Pallavicinirinne in an ice climbing master stroke not repeated for 23 years.
In 1879, Count Pallavicini dedicated a new iron summit cross on the occasion of the silver wedding of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and Empress Elisabeth; both had visited Heiligenblut and walked to the present-day Franz-Josefs-Höhe viewpoint in 1865. The cross was installed on 2 October 1880. Pallavicini also had the Archduke John Hut erected at the former Adlersruhe resting place of Bishop Salm, today the highest situated mountain hut in Austria. The Austrian Alpine Club built the new Salmhütte and the Glocknerhaus along the alpine route from Heiligenblut.
A first ascent by skiing was made in 1909 and the circumnavigation of the massif soon became a popular ski mountaineering tour. The Grossglockner became Austria's highest mountain, when the South Tyrolean Ortler region had to be ceded to the Kingdom of Italy according to the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain, which promoted its reputation as a tourist attraction.

The Painter 
Edward Theodore Compton, usually referred to as E. T. Compton, (29 July 1849 – 22 March 1921) was an English-born, German artist, illustrator and mountain climber, not to be confused with his son Edward Harrison Compton, also a mountain painter. He is well known for his paintings and drawings of alpine scenery, and as a mountaineer made 300 major ascents including no fewer than 27 first ascents.
Initially painting in the English romantic tradition, Compton later developed a more realistic representation of nature, being guided by his true artistic ideas while retaining topographical accuracy. Even his early watercolors show the great importance of brightness and light and his work is also remarkable for its portrayal of the elements such as water and air, including ascending mist and fog. He can be regarded as an impressionist.
He attended various art schools, including, for a time, the Royal Academy in London, but otherwise he was mainly self-taught in art. In 1867, wanting the best education for their artistically-talented son, and due to the high cost of schooling in England, the family decided to emigrate to Germany settling in Darmstadt. The city at that time was the seat of the Grand Duchy of Hesse under Grand Duke Ludwig III, and a community of artists had sprung up there. Entries in Compton's diary show that both he and his father were art teachers - Alice, the Princess of Hesse numbered amongst Edward's students.
Between 1867-68 Compton toured the Rhineland, Mosel and Eifel areas of Germany, making numerous sketches. In July 1868, the entire Compton family traveled to the Bernese Oberland, the alpine scenery encountered during this trip, particularly the view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks, inspiring Edward to become a mountain painter.
In 1869, Compton was living in Munich and two years later for the first time exhibited his work at the Glass Palace.
In 1872 he married Auguste Plotz and for two years they travelled through the Tyrol, Carinthia, Italy and Switzerland. From 1874, the couple settled in Feldafing on Lake Starnberg, building a comfortable house there called Villa Compton.
In the following years, Compton travelled to the mountains of Austria, Scandinavia, North Africa, Corsica and Spain recording his impressions in a variety of oil and watercolors paintings and ink drawings. Although alpine scenes predominated, Compton also visited and drew other areas such as the High Tatras in eastern Europe, the Scottish Highlands, the Hebrides, the Lofoten Islands and Northern Cape in Norway, and the Colombian Andes.
In 1880 Compton became a member of the Royal Academy, London. Besides his work as a painter he also became well known as a book illustrator for the German and Austrian Alpine Association (DAV) with titles such as "In the high mountains" by Emil Zsigmondy (1889), "About Fels and Firn" by H. Hess (1901) and "Mountaineering in Pictures" by Alfred Steinitzer (1913). In England he was also in demand as an illustrator providing pictures for a range of titles (see below).
In 1909 Compton accompanied his friend, the mountaineer Karl Blodig on many tours in the Silvretta mountains. At the time of the First World War he was invited by the Austrian army to paint from the mountain front but was forbidden to do so by the Bavarian High Command. He was also excluded from the Munich Artists' Association, because he was English.
Apart from his art, Compton was also an excellent climber, highly regarded by Blodig for his "brilliant mountaineering skill on ice and rock, his truly admirable perseverance, his inexhaustible patience in bearing hardships". He was a member of the exclusive Alpine Club and the German and Austrian Alpine Association (DAV).
Amongst his notable ascents were: Torre di Brenta first climbed in 1882; Cima Brenta, first climbed by the south wall in 1882; Odle} (Large Fermeda); Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey (ascent in 1905 with Karl Blodig); Grossglockner, climbed at the age of 70!
Compton died in Feldafing on 22 July 1921, aged 72. His son Edward Harrison Compton and daughter Dora Compton were also mountain painters. His other daughter Marion was a flower and still life painter.