FERDINAND GEORG WALDMÜLLER (1793-1865)
Schönberg (2,104m -6,903 ft)
Lichtenstein
In The Schönberg seen from the Hoisernradalpe, oil on canvas, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
The mountain
Schönberg (2,104m -6,903 ft) is a mountain in Liechtenstein in the Rätikon range of the Eastern Alps north-east of the village of Steg. The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as the Rhine. In the south, the Prättigau is its limit, and in the north, it is the Walgau. In the east, it borders the Silvretta groups. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian (Raeti or Rhaeti) people.
The painter
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller was an Austrian writer and one of the most important painters of the Biedermeier period. Whether it was the conquest of the landscape and thus the convincing rendering of closeness or distance, the accurate characterisation of the human face, the detailed and refined description of textures, or the depiction of rural everyday life: his works – brilliant, explanatory, moralising, and socially critical – influenced a whole generation of artists. Being an advocate of natural observation and plein air painting, as well as a critic of academic painting, Waldmüller was far ahead of his time.
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Wandering Vertexes 2020
A blog by Francis Rousseau
