TONI HALLER (1907-1944)
Hoher Dachstein (2, 995m - 9,826ft)
Austria
In Lake Gosau with the Dachstein, oil on canvas, private collection
The painter
Toni Haller, also known as Hans Sterbik, was an Austrian painter born in 1907. Not a lot of informations about his life are available except he lived and worked in Vienna. His work comprises landscapes and predominantly mountains landcapes. He found his motifs in Tyrol, the Salzkammergut, and the Dolomites. Many works by Toni Haller have been sold at auction, including 'Winter in den Dolomiten' sold in 2011 for $7,563. The artist died in 1944.
Hoher Dachstein (2, 995m - 9,826ft) is a strongly karstic Austrian mountain, and the second highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria in central Austria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Parts of the massif also lie in the state of Salzburg, leading to the mountain being referred to as the Drei-Lander-Berg ("three-state mountain"). The Dachstein massif covers an area of around 20x30 km with dozens of peaks above 2,500 m, the highest of which are in the southern and south-western areas. Seen from the north, the Dachstein massif is dominated by the glaciers with the rocky summits rising beyond them. By contrast, to the south, the mountain drops almost vertically to the valley floor (see above).
The summit was first reached in 1832 by Peter Gappmayr, via the Gosau glacier, after an earlier attempt by Erzherzog Karl via the Hallstätter glacier had failed. Within two years of Gappmayr's success a wooden cross had been erected at the summit. The first person to reach the summit in winter was Friedrich Simony, on 14 January 1847. The sheer southern face was first climbed on 22 September 1909 by the brothers Irg and Franz Steiner.