Children at the Window

Austrian painter Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller was an outstanding representative of early realism.

Cheerful, bright-eyed children scramble from a dark interior to an open window, looking expectantly straight at the viewer. The illusionistic effect of the picture is enhanced by the gesture of the boy pointing his finger, his arm almost appearing to project from the picture. The bright sunlight casts sharply defined shadows. With his sharp chiaroscuro contrasts, the artist achieves an impressively realistic effect of the different surface textures. The painting is dated 1853; at the time, depiction of merry peasant children was a popular subject – with no claim to social criticism.