An exhibition at the National Gallery in London is shedding light on Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, an influential yet perhaps underappreciated Austrian artist from the 19th century. Waldmüller (1793-1865) is recognised as a leading figure in Austrian art of his time, celebrated as an admired teacher and a notably radical voice within the established Viennese Academy.
Waldmüller operated during the Biedermeier movement, a period spanning from the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars until the 1848 revolutions that shook the ruling Habsburg empire. This era saw the rise of a bourgeois society with a taste for pleasant landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits. Within these conventional artistic boundaries, Waldmüller distinguished himself by pursuing a more uncompromising mode of depiction, prioritising accuracy and integrity over the sentimental tendencies prevalent among his contemporaries. He was also a vocal critic of the Academy's teaching methods, even going so far as to call for the complete abolition of all academies in 1857.
The current collection of his works, primarily small, intricately detailed landscapes, might not immediately convey the image of a passionate, rule-breaking radical. Pieces like 'The Ruins of the Temple of Juno Lacinia near Agrigento' (1846) and 'View of the Dachstein from the Sophien-Doppelblick near Ischl' (1835) are presented with systematic captions, meticulously listing topographical details and offering technical analysis. For instance, a caption might note how Waldmüller differentiated landscape elements through tonal shifts, from the soft greens of a valley to the blue-grey of distant mountains. The exhibition includes only one portrait, his 1828 'Self Portrait as a Young Man', which, notably larger than the landscapes, draws attention to his 'delicate fingers proclaiming his sensitivity and talent', a descriptor that arguably encapsulates the entire show's aesthetic.
Waldmüller's artistic journey began by emulating 17th-century Dutch artists such as Jacob van Ruisdael, but he later abandoned this method to study directly from nature. While Ruisdael created expressive landscapes imbued with tangible mood, Waldmüller deliberately stripped his own works of overt dramatic impact and personality in pursuit of militant accuracy. He applied elements like leaves, bark, and grass with an almost scientific precision, akin to a chef meticulously garnishing a dish. He also adopted the unusual practice of using a white ground for his paintings, rather than the traditional brown. Applying thin glazes of oil paint onto a white ground resulted in brilliant, luminous colours, a technique also employed by the Pre-Raphaelites, whom he may have encountered during a visit to London in 1856. However, unlike the Pre-Raphaelites' often vibrant and fantastical works, Waldmüller's focus on slavishly accurate reproduction of natural elements resulted in a more muted, as-found-in-nature visual impact.
Understanding Waldmüller's trailblazing status within the confines of landscape painting, and without comparative contextual examples, can be challenging. The distinction between his work and purely topographical or botanical paintings, which serve academic record, becomes clearer when considering a piece like 'Early Spring in the Vienna Woods' (1861). This landscape features a quaint group of smiling children gathering violets, offering a glimpse into the broader Biedermeier trend for sweet genre scenes with metaphorical content. This saccharine presence helps to contextualise Waldmüller’s desire to move away from such fanciful depictions and instead concentrate on the 'unflinching honesty' of the actual world.
The exhibition thus presents an artist who, despite his outwardly controlled and precise style, harboured a revolutionary spirit, challenging the conventions of his time and advocating for a direct, honest engagement with nature that was ahead of its time.