A frame full of seawater

Discover artists

Origin:

The title of the painting "A frame full of lake water" goes back to a statement by the art critic Ludwig Hevesi (1843 - 1910) about the paintings by Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) of Lake Attersee, which he painted during his summer holidays at Lake Attersee from 1900 - 1916: "A frame full of lake water, from Lake Attersee, nothing but short grey and green waves gliding through each other."
I was able to marvel at these works directly in the small but fine Klimt Museum in Schörfling am Attersee in 2022. I admired the almost abstract painting, in square formats, which uses the entire picture surface almost exclusively for the depiction of the turquoise-coloured, slightly undulating water surface with the help of short, impressionistic brushstrokes.
I started painting my picture of Lake Attersee plein air at almost the same spot where Gustav Klimt must have once stood in Litzlberg. I found that very inspiring. And I was also impressed by the unique turquoise-coloured water of Lake Attersee. I wanted to capture the movement of the water created by the wind falling down from the dark mountain slopes and gently sweeping across the lake.
I had a pink primed canvas measuring 120 x 160 cm with me, the colour tone of which was in perfect subtle tension with the light turquoise tone with which I painted the water. At the end of the two days I spent painting the picture on site, I was satisfied with the condition of the painting.
The oil paint dried for two years. Enough time to look at the painting again and again and think about it. The overall colour tone was too cool for me. And so, in the summer of 2024, I took the painting with me on a plein air holiday to Templin in Brandenburg. There I found other, very suitable shades of green at one of the glowing green forest lakes around Templin, which I used to completely rework the picture.

Started at a lake in Austria, finished at a lake in Brandenburg, this picture remains "A frame full of lake water" and conveys the freshness of a summer day spent at the lake.