Stiller Weiher (Egelsee bei Golling, Salzburg)

The surface of the lake echoes nature in continuous reinvention. Tender and touched by a gentle breeze, the reflections of trees and sky grow indistinct, to then once again be solidified elsewhere. The little beam of light on the meadow path in the upper right-hand corner seems to be the only evidence of tangible reality. Klimt’s travels to the Salzkammergut and the region of Salzburg at the end of the 1890s marked the beginning of an intensive rediscovery of the landscape genre. His early paintings of ponds and bogs, in particular, are of an atmospheric nature, which, much like his “pictorial photographs” of the time, invite the beholder to gaze in contemplation. Unlike many late-nineteenth-century painters, Klimt was able to overcome the arbitrariness of impressionist landscapes. He developed novel principles of composition, while preserving an impressionist allure.