Hermann Grom-rottmayer (1877-1953) - Through The Window - Austrian Landscape - Circa 1900-1920

Hermann GROM-ROTTMAYER (1877-1953)
Through the Window
Oil on canvas
Circa 1900
70 x 55.5 cm.
Signed lower right.

Hermann Grom-Rottmayer was born in Vienna on December 20, 1877, where he died on January 24, 1953. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts between 1903 and 1906 under Alois Delug, then continued his studies at the Munich Academy from 1906 to 1908 in the class of Ludwig von Herterich.

Upon returning to Austria, he taught at the Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen, an art school for women and girls. From 1926, he founded a seminar devoted to theatrical staging, artificial lighting, and illuminated advertising, fields that were still relatively unexplored at that time.

Grom-Rottmayer was a member of the Wiener Secession from 1910 to 1939, before joining the Künstlerhaus Wien, the other major Viennese artists' association. His work lies at the crossroads of realism and late Jugendstil: he painted Alpine landscapes, interior scenes, portraits, and family scenes imbued with an intimate and measured feeling.

He also produced lithographs and several poster designs, one of which, for Vienna's Centralbad, sparked controversy before being modified. His compositions are distinguished by an attention to domestic detail and a soft light, characteristic of Viennese painting between the wars. His works are also included in several public collections, including that of the Belvedere in Vienna.