DOI issue:
No. 202 (January, 1910)
DOI article:Glaser, M.: Ferdinand Engelmüller's Bohemian landscapes
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20968#0314
Ferdinand Engelmullev
he has portrayed in a series of plein-air pictures
giving vistas of the old city from many points of
view. But when mention is made to him nowa-
days of his popularity in this respect he modestly
repudiates any claim to it; he would even seem
to be half ashamed about it, and scarcely likes to
be reminded of the days when to earn a scanty
pittance, he painted large pictures which a wide-
awake publisher has utilised for the well-known
postcards of " picturesque Prague."
Prague is Engelmuller's native city, and his love
for the interesting old town, whose manifold
beauties never escape his observant eye, is elo-
quently expressed in all his pictures of the city.
He has but to look from the window of his studio
to find inspiration for subjects innumerable.
Stepping out on to an open balustrade he can
take in at a glance the many picturesque features
of his Vaterstadt—the Hofburg on yonder hill
covered with trees, the Cathedral of St. Vitus,
besides a hundred towers grey with age, and
numerous other edifices which remain as the
venerable relics of a hoary antiquity. Old houses
and many nooks and corners serve as accessories
to give completion to the picture, and for fore-
ground he has the famous Karlsbriicke with its
statues, forming the connecting link between the
" Old Town" and the " Kleinseite " across the
Moldau, which hereabouts offers a variety of
scenery with its verdant isles. Engelmuller's
portrayal of Prague has always been truthful
and attractive, whether the occasion has been a
sunny day in spring-time, a warm moonlight night
in summer, or one of those wintry days when the
town wears a raiment of snow and the river is one
broad expanse of ice.
In his later career Engelmiiller has not con-
cerned himself with views of Prague, but has
selected his themes solely from the realm of land-
scape proper. As a rule these landscapes are
"IN THE MEADOWS" (PASTEL) BY FERDINAND ENGELMULLER
292
he has portrayed in a series of plein-air pictures
giving vistas of the old city from many points of
view. But when mention is made to him nowa-
days of his popularity in this respect he modestly
repudiates any claim to it; he would even seem
to be half ashamed about it, and scarcely likes to
be reminded of the days when to earn a scanty
pittance, he painted large pictures which a wide-
awake publisher has utilised for the well-known
postcards of " picturesque Prague."
Prague is Engelmuller's native city, and his love
for the interesting old town, whose manifold
beauties never escape his observant eye, is elo-
quently expressed in all his pictures of the city.
He has but to look from the window of his studio
to find inspiration for subjects innumerable.
Stepping out on to an open balustrade he can
take in at a glance the many picturesque features
of his Vaterstadt—the Hofburg on yonder hill
covered with trees, the Cathedral of St. Vitus,
besides a hundred towers grey with age, and
numerous other edifices which remain as the
venerable relics of a hoary antiquity. Old houses
and many nooks and corners serve as accessories
to give completion to the picture, and for fore-
ground he has the famous Karlsbriicke with its
statues, forming the connecting link between the
" Old Town" and the " Kleinseite " across the
Moldau, which hereabouts offers a variety of
scenery with its verdant isles. Engelmuller's
portrayal of Prague has always been truthful
and attractive, whether the occasion has been a
sunny day in spring-time, a warm moonlight night
in summer, or one of those wintry days when the
town wears a raiment of snow and the river is one
broad expanse of ice.
In his later career Engelmiiller has not con-
cerned himself with views of Prague, but has
selected his themes solely from the realm of land-
scape proper. As a rule these landscapes are
"IN THE MEADOWS" (PASTEL) BY FERDINAND ENGELMULLER
292