Bidspirit auction | Josef Langko (1819-1862)

Josef Langko (1819-1862) - Josef Langko (1819-1862). EVENING MOOD AT THE CHIEMSEE 1861 Oil on canvas, 27×37 cm (37.5×47 cm). Signed and dated lower left ”JLangka 1861”. Marking: on the reverse of the canvas, a stamp of the Munich supplier: ”Malereiwand von H. Markl in München”. Mounted in a black profiled Dutch-type frame. This intimate yet painterly brilliant work by Josef Langko captures one of his most favoured subjects – the Bavarian Lake Chiemsee. The work was created in 1861, the last year of the artist`s life, and represents the culmination of his oeuvre. Langko here masterfully employs the technique of plein-air painting to capture the fleeting moment when sunbeams penetrate through the clouds and are reflected on the calm surface of the lake. The composition with cattle at a watering place in the foreground and the island of Frauenchiemsee in the distance is typical of the artist`s sense of harmony and atmospheric depth. Delicate valeurs of grey, golden and blue in combination with the precise drawing of the Alps in the background place this work among the outstanding examples of Munich landscape realism.