Vorfrühling 1917

Albin Egger-Lienz made *Vorfrühling* with oil on canvas, and its muddy ochre palette captures that moment when winter loosens its grip and the promise of spring hangs in the air. I can almost feel the artist shifting and adjusting, responding to the scene before him. He must have battled with the light, trying to pin down the feeling of the air. The paint isn’t too thick, but it has got enough body to give real presence to the monumental mountain in the background and the builders in the foreground. What were they thinking as they paused? The guy leaning on his hoe looks weary. Were they aware of the painter watching them? You can feel the influence of artists like Millet in the solid, grounded forms, but Egger-Lienz is doing something different, something more internal. It is like he’s tapping into a deeper, more elemental connection between people and the land. Painting is a conversation, right? We're all just trying to figure things out, one brushstroke at a time, building on what came before and pushing towards something new.