Über dem Nebelmeer 1914

Edward Theodore Compton made this painting of a mountain scene, sometime around the late 19th or early 20th century, probably with oil on canvas. The way he’s built up these layers of frosty whites and blues, it's like he’s conjuring the scene right before your eyes. Looking closely, you can see Compton's playful dance with thick and thin paint. The peaks and rockfaces are built up with hearty brushstrokes. It's interesting to see how the peaks, with their textured surfaces, juxtapose the soft haziness of the clouds. See that little dab of lavender in the snowdrift? It’s these subtle tonal shifts that make the whole scene sing. Compton reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich, another German Romantic painter who was preoccupied with mountain scenes. But where Friedrich's figures are often dwarfed by nature, Compton brings you right up close, making you feel like you could touch the snow. It's this tactile quality that makes the painting so immersive and so damn good.