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Lot Essay
Dr. Ammann has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Born in Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Alfons Walde began his career at the Technische Hochshule in Vienna, where he studied architecture from 1910 to 1914, whilst simultaneously perfecting his skills as a painter. Here he came into contact with Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Ferdinand Hodler, whose work was of great influence to the burgeoning artist. In 1911 Walde had his first exhibition at Innsbruck and in 1913 submitted four works to the celebrated Vienna Secession exhibition. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Walde’s artistic ambitions were put on hold as he joined the Tyrolean Kaiserschütze, heading to the high mountains of Austria. Following the end of the war Walde returned to Kitzbühel and fully devoted himself to painting. During the 1920s Walde participated in a number of exhibitions of the Secession and the Wiener Künstlerhaus. In 1924 he received first and second prize at the competition "Winterbilder" and a year later took part at the Biennale Romana in Rome. Around 1928 he finally found his own characteristic style that gave expression to the Tyrolean mountain scenery - particularly the living winter landscapes - and its robust people through the use of highly reduced inland drawings and a pastose colouring.
Einsamer berghof showcases one of Alfons Walde's most characteristic motifs that of an Austrian chalet perched on the snowy slopes of his local Kitzbühel under a radiant blue sky, filled with crisp bright light. Often painting his compositions en plein air after skiing to various viewpoints, Walde has been recognised as the first artist to successfully make skiing the subject of painting.
The present work captures the picturesque scenery of the remote Kitzbühel Mountains, depicting a traditional wooden chalet perched upon a rocky outcrop, whilst a Tyrolean woman stands in the foreground with a child in her arms, granting a sense of scale. Using a myriad of nuanced shades of white Walde succeeds in capturing the brilliance of the mountain light, which radiates off the snowy slope, while the contrasting blue shadows, mirror the deep blue expanse of sky above, creating a perfectly balanced and harmonious composition. Deploying a tempered palette of subtle tones, rendered in a unique tempera style with pastose colouring, Walde creates a wonderfully worked surface, dispensing of any unnecessary detail to create a stylised and reduced style.
Born in Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Alfons Walde began his career at the Technische Hochshule in Vienna, where he studied architecture from 1910 to 1914, whilst simultaneously perfecting his skills as a painter. Here he came into contact with Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Ferdinand Hodler, whose work was of great influence to the burgeoning artist. In 1911 Walde had his first exhibition at Innsbruck and in 1913 submitted four works to the celebrated Vienna Secession exhibition. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Walde’s artistic ambitions were put on hold as he joined the Tyrolean Kaiserschütze, heading to the high mountains of Austria. Following the end of the war Walde returned to Kitzbühel and fully devoted himself to painting. During the 1920s Walde participated in a number of exhibitions of the Secession and the Wiener Künstlerhaus. In 1924 he received first and second prize at the competition "Winterbilder" and a year later took part at the Biennale Romana in Rome. Around 1928 he finally found his own characteristic style that gave expression to the Tyrolean mountain scenery - particularly the living winter landscapes - and its robust people through the use of highly reduced inland drawings and a pastose colouring.
Einsamer berghof showcases one of Alfons Walde's most characteristic motifs that of an Austrian chalet perched on the snowy slopes of his local Kitzbühel under a radiant blue sky, filled with crisp bright light. Often painting his compositions en plein air after skiing to various viewpoints, Walde has been recognised as the first artist to successfully make skiing the subject of painting.
The present work captures the picturesque scenery of the remote Kitzbühel Mountains, depicting a traditional wooden chalet perched upon a rocky outcrop, whilst a Tyrolean woman stands in the foreground with a child in her arms, granting a sense of scale. Using a myriad of nuanced shades of white Walde succeeds in capturing the brilliance of the mountain light, which radiates off the snowy slope, while the contrasting blue shadows, mirror the deep blue expanse of sky above, creating a perfectly balanced and harmonious composition. Deploying a tempered palette of subtle tones, rendered in a unique tempera style with pastose colouring, Walde creates a wonderfully worked surface, dispensing of any unnecessary detail to create a stylised and reduced style.