Otto Modersohn

About the work

"The surface, the texture must be in motion, vibrating, not smooth or dead (…) I felt this strongly two years ago when I painted these pictures: In the foreground the houses on the Gailenberg, beyond, the snow-covered mountains, and nestling in their shadow, Hindelang (of which Christian is particularly fond)".
Entry from the diary of Otto Modersohn, June 1, 1934.

This is one of Otto Modersohn's rare canvases painted in the valley on the outskirts of the spa resort Hindelang. Executed on a sunny spring day, in the shade of the tall trees. His gaze is trained on the snow-covered, sunbathed Hinterstein range of mountains, encompassing the peaks of the Rauhorn, Kugelhorn and Älplespitze. To the fore are the dark slopes of the Iseler and Imberger Horn, in whose embrace lie the staggered row of mountain peasant cottages of Hindelang, with their red pantiled and slated roofs.
This painting illustrates vividly the magnetic appeal the Allgäu countryside had on Otto Modersohn: The terraced inclines disappearing into the distance, the highly-nuanced natural colours and the vibrant vitality of the local topography in all its formal diversity.
(Rainer Noeres)