Caspar Wolf, 'The Geltenbach Falls with an Ice Bridge', about 1778
About the work
Overview
Geltenbach Falls (the Geltenschuss) lies in the Lauenen Valley in the Canton of Bern. Wolf painted this view as a preparatory study for a picture (Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’, Winterthur), painted for Abraham Wagner’s engraving project, Remarkable Views of the Swiss Mountains, on which Wolf started work in 1773. In the foreground a spring thaw has transformed the solid ice into a delicate ice bridge, whose elegant serpentine form contrasts with the formidable rock formations behind, out of which the waterfall surges.
There was growing scientific and artistic interest in the Alps in the late eighteenth century and during Wolf’s many excursions into the mountains he learned about glaciology and geology, and studied the rock and water formations in close detail.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Geltenbach Falls in the Lauenen Valley with an Ice Bridge
- Artist
- Caspar Wolf
- Artist dates
- 1735 - 1783
- Date made
- about 1778
- Medium and support
- Oil on paper laid onto hardboard
- Dimensions
- 27.8 × 19.7 cm
- Inscription summary
- Inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Private Collection, Devon
- Inventory number
- L1227
- Location
- Room 39
- Image copyright
- Private Collection, Devon, © Collection of Asbjørn Lunde
- Collection
- Main Collection
About this record
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