Sonnenuntergang Auf Der Mendel 1919

Albin Egger-Lienz made this painting – Sonnenuntergang Auf Der Mendel – with oil on canvas; its thick layers capture a mountain at sunset. Imagine Egger-Lienz there, feeling the air, trying to grasp the bigness of the landscape. The sun is almost gone, but not quite, its rays blasting light into the earthy browns and ochres. You see the broad, directional brushstrokes, following the mountain’s contours, really building the form. The horizon line, though, it’s uneven, like he couldn’t decide whether to meet the sky or stay rooted on the land. That golden light – it's both real and symbolic, it's a powerful natural force and something spiritual too. I think he must have felt both dwarfed and connected to the landscape. Like other painters before and after, Egger-Lienz seemed to have a conversation with nature, and I wonder who he might have been thinking of when he made it?