(Vienna 1812-1905)
The Waterfall in Bad Gastein with the Straubinger Cottage, c. 1830, verso confirmation by Louise Alt, 23 May 1906, estate stamp “Rud.Alt” and handwritten confirmation from Alfred Wawra, watercolour, opaque white on paper, 17.6 x 24 cm, restored tear at top left, framed

Provenance:
Collection of A. Lipp, Vienna;
His sale C. J. Wawra, Vienna, 23 April 1906, lot 180;
Private Collection, Austria;
Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 23 March 1965, lot 144;
Private Collection, Vienna;
Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 1 December 1970, lot 141;
Collection of Dr. Otto Glaser (1926–2017), Ireland;
His heirs, Private Collection, Ireland

Catalogued in:
Walter Koschatzky, Rudolf von Alt. 1812–1905, Vienna 2001, CR no. 30/12.

Verso confirmation from Louise Alt, May 23, 1906: “I confirm that this picture depicting Gastein was painted by my father Prof. Rudolf v. Alt in 1830”

Verso confirmation from Alfred Wawra: “Purchased at our auction on April 13, 1906 (Lipp); I herby guarantee that it is a work by Alt and comes from his estate. Alfred Wawra”

In 1830, the almost 18-year-old Rudolf von Alt traveled alone for the first time to the picturesque “hotspots” of the 19th century, to the Salzkammergut and Bad Gastein, which was just beginning to develop into one of the most famous health resorts in the monarchy. The journey marked a decisive turning point in the young painter's artistic approach. The independent search for suitable viewpoints, the immersion in the respective motif changed his understanding of how reality can be transformed artistically.

This watercolor with the view of the Gastein waterfall, in a particularly close view, is a special example of this metamorphosis from careful approach to artistically free interpretation. A meticulous but lively drawing with soft lines captures the architecture of the Straubinger Hütte with one of the first large bathing establishments in the town. He captures the trees in a charmingly naïve, baroque manner; just the gliding of the light over the branches, the attractive play of shadows on the facades, the white, transparent smoke and the subtle scent of a warm, sunny sky demonstrate the artist's new free gaze. The young Alt is completely in his element when drawing the water. With astonishing certainty he captures the roar, the spray, the coolness of this elusive element, which at the same time gives the painting its dramatic beauty.