(Wunsiedel 1881–1965 Wien)
Das Gewitter / The Tempest, signed LH JUNGNICKEL, around 1913, oil on canvas on canvas, 67 x 83.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
directly acquired from the artists estate
Private Collection, Austria

Compare with:
“Das Gewitter” (“The Tempest”), 1913, Tempera on paper, Belvedere Vienna, Inv. No. 1712 “Die Sintflut” (“The Flood”), around 1913, oil on canvas, Belvedere Vienna, Inv. No. 4398

Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel was one of the most important graphic artists and animal painters in the circle of the Vienna Secession. A separate theme in his oeuvre is formed by a series of pictorial narrative stories from the Bible and mythology, created around 1913/1914. A remarkable example is offered by the present painting “The Tempest”, an allusion to the biblical story of the Flood, but set in an alpine landscape. In fiercely moving brushstrokes the painter captures the drama of the event in an expressive narrative style, while the meandering line of the water stream guides the viewer's gaze through the variety of pictorial scenes. The Belvedere Collection holds what is probably the first version of this theme in tempera as well as a larger version in oil.

Cf. Ilse Spielvogel-Bodo, L. H. Jungnickel. Ein Leben für die Kunst, Klagenfurt 2000