DOI issue:
Nr. 336 (May 1925)
DOI issue:Nr. 337 (June 1925)
DOI article:Muller, G. Frank: Koeniger, painter of snow
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0214
inceRnACionAL
"WHEN SNOW IS KING" By permission of a private collector BY W. KOENIGER
devoting himself entirely to art, an inward urge
which he could not resist. He established himself
in Woodstock about 1912, and has been depicting
the vistas of the Catskills for over a decade.
Seeking no connection with any school, he
worked out his own salvation, and where the chain
of hills sweeps toward the bank of the Hudson in
ever-changing variety he found his inspiration.
He is deeply concerned with the moods of nature;
the soft gradations of violet, purple, deep blue,
and heliotrope of the crisp snow; with the
emerald sky, the lazy brooks, and the silver,
glistening branches of the stately pines. Here we
have a streamlet, half imprisoned within ice of a
most translucent crystal, but where it is visible,
what a refreshing tint of cool blue, or is it violet?
greets the eye! At its verge the sparkling snow
comes, down to meet and perhaps mingle with the
idle current eddying in the calm silence. Then
there are the pines, each branch laden with its
iridescent burden of snow, which fringe the
rivulet, or are majestically outlined against the
sky. What can gaudy summer offer of greater
delight than this symphony of sweet, cool tones?
Koeniger's vision is not photographic; he
works in broad strokes, never small or stilted,
capturing the subtle relation of tones in large
synthetic values of fresh, luminous, glowing color.
His aim is to catch the spirit of nature, not to
copy her slavishly. Art is something more than
simply reproducing what is apparent to the eye;
the objects seen must be put down in such a
manner as to arouse emotions in the spectator.
The artist essays to convey to the beholder the
rapture he experiences before nature at her best.
Koeniger seizes the delight of woodland beauties
and passes it on for our enjoyment. His mission
he conceives to be the interpretation of nature,
neither to distort nor to photograph what he sees,
but to capture and hold the most fleeting moods.
Such a mission becomes important in proportion
to the skill with/which it is carried out, and in the
present instance a significant service is being
rendered to lovers both of art and nature, for the
two are most consummately blended.
The life of a snow painter is not without its
dangers, as will be seen by the following mishap
which befell our artist. He had become enthralled
two juurteen
JUNE 1925
"WHEN SNOW IS KING" By permission of a private collector BY W. KOENIGER
devoting himself entirely to art, an inward urge
which he could not resist. He established himself
in Woodstock about 1912, and has been depicting
the vistas of the Catskills for over a decade.
Seeking no connection with any school, he
worked out his own salvation, and where the chain
of hills sweeps toward the bank of the Hudson in
ever-changing variety he found his inspiration.
He is deeply concerned with the moods of nature;
the soft gradations of violet, purple, deep blue,
and heliotrope of the crisp snow; with the
emerald sky, the lazy brooks, and the silver,
glistening branches of the stately pines. Here we
have a streamlet, half imprisoned within ice of a
most translucent crystal, but where it is visible,
what a refreshing tint of cool blue, or is it violet?
greets the eye! At its verge the sparkling snow
comes, down to meet and perhaps mingle with the
idle current eddying in the calm silence. Then
there are the pines, each branch laden with its
iridescent burden of snow, which fringe the
rivulet, or are majestically outlined against the
sky. What can gaudy summer offer of greater
delight than this symphony of sweet, cool tones?
Koeniger's vision is not photographic; he
works in broad strokes, never small or stilted,
capturing the subtle relation of tones in large
synthetic values of fresh, luminous, glowing color.
His aim is to catch the spirit of nature, not to
copy her slavishly. Art is something more than
simply reproducing what is apparent to the eye;
the objects seen must be put down in such a
manner as to arouse emotions in the spectator.
The artist essays to convey to the beholder the
rapture he experiences before nature at her best.
Koeniger seizes the delight of woodland beauties
and passes it on for our enjoyment. His mission
he conceives to be the interpretation of nature,
neither to distort nor to photograph what he sees,
but to capture and hold the most fleeting moods.
Such a mission becomes important in proportion
to the skill with/which it is carried out, and in the
present instance a significant service is being
rendered to lovers both of art and nature, for the
two are most consummately blended.
The life of a snow painter is not without its
dangers, as will be seen by the following mishap
which befell our artist. He had become enthralled
two juurteen
JUNE 1925