Eduard Peithner Von Lichtenfels (1833-1913), Woodland, 1884

Eduard Peithner von Lichtenfels (1833 Vienna - 1913 Berlin),Woodland, 1884. Watercolor andpen and ink on drawing paper, 30.4 cm x 22.5 cm, signed, dated and inscribed bythe artist at lower left.
- in goodcondition 



- The InnerDrama of the Landscape - 


During hisexcursions, Eduard Peithner von Lichtenfels repeatedly discovered theinexhaustible richness of nature. Using a combination of pen-and-ink drawingand watercolor, techniques in which the artist specialized, he capturedparticularly impressive scenes. Here, we see a group of nearly uprootedconifers standing on a slope, extending the terrain's descending line upwards.Their uprooting appears all the more dramatic this way, especially since thetwo trees standing in a line — viewed from right to left — perform a tiltingmovement that increases the tension in the picture even more. The movement ofthe branches, heightened by the interplay of light and shadow, adds to thedrama. The location and exact date suggest that this is not an artistic compositionbut rather an accurate depiction of the inner drama of the natural world beforethe artist's eyes.  



About the artist

EduardPeithner von Lichtenfels began studying at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in1854. In 1857, he moved to the Düsseldorf Academy of Art, where he wasparticularly influenced by Carl Friedrich Lessing's landscape paintings. In1868, he became a member of the Academy in Vienna, where he taught landscapepainting as a professor from 1872 to 1907. He also served as rector of theacademy from 1878 to 1880 and from 1897 to 1899. As a landscape paintingteacher, he promoted close study of nature and regularly took excursions to theWachau. This led to the Wachau becoming a popular subject in Austrian landscapepainting, and some of his students settled there. His students includedFerdinand Andri, Wilhelm Bernatzik, Eduard Zetsche, Heinrich Tomec, Hans Wilt,Johann Nepomuk Geller, and Maximilian Suppantschitsch. After retiring, Peithnervon Lichtenfels lived in Nuremberg and Berlin for a time, where he died.