| As in his Mountain Landscape with the Ruin of Liechtenstien (GE 1603), Waldmüller also develops here a form of aerial perspective. This takes its starting point in the foreground with the garishly lit peasant woman seeking rest; it then embraces the lively modelling of the foliage; and it ends with the soaring spire of the Spitalskirche and the former textile factory. In the far distance we see the Park of Laxenburg and the framing band of the Leitha Hills. For all its topographical accuracy, Waldmüller’s View of Mödling provides only a fleeting impression of the observed scene, being focused on the atmosphere evoked by particular lighting conditions. We sense that in the very next moment the interrelationships of colour and light may have altered, resulting in an utterly different effect of aerial perspective and a new interrelationship of the various ‘strata’ of the landscape – and hence a quite different picture. |
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Oil on canvas
height 56 cm, width 69 cm
Signed and dated at lower right: Waldmüller 1848
Inv.-No. GE1604
Provenance: before 1872 at the Galerie Gsell, Vienna; Etienne R. von Scavani; acquired in 1908 by Prince Johann II von Liechtenstein
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| Further works on display |
 | | Mountain Landscape with the Ruin of Liechtenstein near Mödling, 1859 | |
| | Lime-kiln in the Hinterbrühl, c. 1845 | |
| | The Ruins of the Greek Theatre at Taormina on Sicily, 1844 | |
| | Portrait of the architect Charles de Moreau (1758-1841), 1822 | |
| | The Ruins of the Temple of Juno Lacinia at Agrigento, c. 1845 | |
| | Lake Fuschl with the Schafberg, c. 1835 | |
| | Portrait of Thiery, Landlord of the Wolf-in-the-Meadow Inn, 1833 | |
| | Portrait of the Future Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (1830-1916) as a Grenadier with Toy Soldiers, 1832 | |
| | Revival to New Life, 1852 | |
| | Maternal Admonition, 1850 | |
| | The lesson, 1837 | |
| | Ruines of the greek theater in Taormina towards the straits of Messina, 1844 | |
| | The halted Pilgrimage, 1853 | |
| | Roses, 1843 | |
| | Flowers in a Porcelain Vase with Candlestick and Silver Vessels, 1839 |
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| Related themes |
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