Hermann Dischler

This work is an especially impressive example of the art of Hermann Dischler, who achieved fame as a “snow painter.” Hardly another artist devoted as much attention to snowy landscapes as Dischler, though of course he did not stand in the cold and snow with his easel to capture Black Forest scenes. Instead, he made use of modern technology-the camera. In the studio, he projected his photographic images onto the canvas to create precise depictions of the topography. For this reason, Dischler’s paintings also serve an important documentary function for us today; it is even possible to determine the exact vantage point from which the artist took his photographs. In this painting, Dischler shows the view toward Freiburg from the high-lying Black Forest town of St. Märgen. Although the city of Freiburg itself is concealed by mountains, its local mountain-the Schauinsland-appears in the background. This mountain has an elevation of 1284 meters and belongs to the district of Freiburg. Dischler’s snow pictures generally show the untouched beauty of the snowy landscape in the morning light. In order to intensify the effect of his colors, he often primed the canvas not in white, but with a reddish tone already mixed into the priming; the color then shimmers through in the areas of snow that remain white. This painting strikingly evokes the landscape of rolling hills found in mountainous regions of the Black Forest. TILMANN VON STOCKHAUSEN (Transl. MELISSA THORSON)