Landscape, Evening thumbnail 1
Landscape, Evening thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Landscape, Evening

Oil Painting
1875 (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 depicts a winter scene with a river, probably to be identified as the Isar river in Munich a small figure fishing in the foreground. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. It is a fine example of Heffner's early manner.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleLandscape, Evening
Materials and techniques
oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil on canvas, 'Landscape, Evening', Karl Heffner, German school, 1875
Physical description
In the foreground and retreating into the distance, a glassy expanse of water reflects the sky above it. In the lower left foreground a man stands fishing. In the lower right corner a man and woman stand by a smoking fire on the far bank, behind them is woodland. In the distance, on the horizon can be seen several buildings.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 78cm
  • Estimate width: 112.4cm
  • Height: 115.5cm (Frame)
  • Width: 149.5cm (Frame)
  • Depth: 11.5cm (Frame)
Dimensions taken from C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
'K HEFFNER München 1875' (signed and dated lower left)
Gallery label
American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' Heffner, a successful painter of twilight landscapes, travelled widely in Europe, exhibiting in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, London, Rome and Paris. He was still alive in 1923.(1987-2006)
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Hill
Object history
Probably acquired directly from the artist (thorugh Thomas Wallis?) by John Hill, of Streatham; by whom bequeathed to the museum in 1894

Historical significance: By comparison with similar scenes (see 864-1894) this painting most likely depicts the Isar river in Munich. It belongs to Heffner’s best known works of twilight winter scenes of the German countryside. The refined and almost monochrome brushwork is characteristic of his first manner before it evolves towards a broader technique inherited from such English painters as John Turner and John Constable but also the French Realists Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau.
The palette is dominated by monochrome hues of yellowish brown and 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. The poetic and fantastic effect of the large cloudy sky is reminiscent of the early Romantic approach to landscape paintings and seems characteristic of the Germanic Realism.
This work was probably executed in open air, following the tradition of Realist paintings and later reworked in studio while the monochrome overall aspects provides the picture with an interesting photographic quality.
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 depicts a winter scene with a river, probably to be identified as the Isar river in Munich a small figure fishing in the foreground. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. It is a fine example of Heffner's early manner.
Bibliographic reference
Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 46, cat. no. 98.
Collection
Accession number
863-1894

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Record createdJanuary 16, 2004
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