Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Imagine Gallery, Adventure, North wall

Lauterbrunnen and the Staubbach Falls

Oil Painting
1883-1894 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Karl Heffner (1849-1925) was born in Würzburg where he first studied music. He was a pupil of Adolf Stademann (1824-1895) and Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826-1882) in Munich. He travelled extensively in Germany, England, Italy and Holland, exhibited in Vienna and Munich between 1873 and 1883, and in the Royal Academy in London between 1880 and 1881.

Heffner was one of the greatest exponents of the Munich School of Paintings led by A. Stademan and A. G. Lier who were his masters. This painting is part of group of six famous Swiss views mounted together and depicts the Staubbach Falls (German: Staubbachfall), a waterfall located just above Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. This work is a fine example of Heffner's mature manner, which became broader and sketchier over the years.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleLauterbrunnen and the Staubbach Falls (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Oil on panel
Brief description
Oil Painting, 'Sketch in Switzerland: Lauterbrunnen and the Staubbach Falls', Karl Heffner, German school, 1883-1894
Physical description
A path in the middle boarded by houses with red and brown roofs, on each side mountains, with a fall on the right hand-side.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 12cm
  • Estimate width: 21cm
Dimensions taken from C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973
Styles
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Hill
Object history
Probably acquired directly from the artist (through Thomas Wallis?) by John Hill, of Streatham; by whom bequeathed to the museum in 1894

Historical significance: This painting is a fine example of Heffner's mature manner which became broader and sketchier under the influence of such English painters as John Turner and John Constable but also the French Realists Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau.
The palette is no more dominated by monochrome hues of yellowish brown (see 865-1894, 864-1894, and 863-1894) like in the early period but enlivened by cool tones and earthen colours applied in a thick impasto, reminiscent of Paul Cézanne's technique. It is a good example of the Realist movement that developed in the Germanic countries in the second half of the 19th century under the influence of French realism and the Barbizon school.
In 1883, Heffner made his first journey to Italy and may have stopped by Switzerland on his way. This work was probably executed in open air, following the tradition of Realist paintings.
This work may have been painted directly for the English market as Heffner regularly supplied pictures to the English art dealer Thomas Wallis, whose business activities brought to Munich. Such pictures attracted patrons and collectors and hitherto a great extent of Heffner's oeuvre is to be found in private collections rather in public institutions.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Karl Heffner (1849-1925) was born in Würzburg where he first studied music. He was a pupil of Adolf Stademann (1824-1895) and Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826-1882) in Munich. He travelled extensively in Germany, England, Italy and Holland, exhibited in Vienna and Munich between 1873 and 1883, and in the Royal Academy in London between 1880 and 1881.

Heffner was one of the greatest exponents of the Munich School of Paintings led by A. Stademan and A. G. Lier who were his masters. This painting is part of group of six famous Swiss views mounted together and depicts the Staubbach Falls (German: Staubbachfall), a waterfall located just above Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. This work is a fine example of Heffner's mature manner, which became broader and sketchier over the years.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 47, cat. no. 101.
Collection
Accession number
866D-1894

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Record createdJuly 6, 2006
Record URL
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