The Schmadribach Falls

landscape

In a letter written in 1797, the artist stated: "My genre is landscape painting, historic or poetic landscape. " In this painting we see a view out of the Lauterbrunnental to the Schmadribach falls in the Bernese Oberland. This brings us closer to Koch's idea of the "poetic" landscape, and to "heroic" landscape as well.

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About the Artist

Joseph Anton Koch

1768 – 1839

Austrian painter, active mainly in Rome, where he settled in 1795. He was influenced by Carstens and worked with the Nazarenes on the decorations of the Casino Massimo (1825-29) in Rome, choosing Dante's Inferno for his subject, but is now best known for his landscapes. They were directly descended from the heroic and ideal landscape of Poussin, but have a distinctive Romantic flavour, particularly in his paintings of mountains.

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