Landscape from Norway

Christian Breslauer attended the Royal Prussian Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and the Royal Prussian Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf. Painters associated with the Academy focused on atmospheric landscapes, creating the so-called Düsseldorf landscape school. Idealised views with castles, chapels, ruins in the moonlight or the setting sun became typical, linked to the romantic worship of nature. Breslauer created his first works in the style of the afore-mentioned school of landscape painting. After graduation, until 1839, he used the atelier at the Academy for the most talented students. During that time, he also travelled extensively, and thanks to his acquaintance with Scandinavian painters, he travelled to Sweden, Norway and Finland in 1836. He also visited Norway in 1839 and 1845, and during his trips, he became fascinated by the harsh and mysterious landscape. The artist's works betray the influence of Scandinavian painting, taken over by Johan Christian Dahl and Thomas Fearnley, among others. After returning to Poland, Breslauer settled permanently in Warsaw and took up the post of a teacher of drawing at the School of Fine Arts. He was a valued and popular teacher. He popularized the idea of work in the open air. There were precursors of realism in the Polish landscape and genre painting among his students, such as Wojciech Gerson, Franciszek Kostrzewski or Władysław Malecki. Breslauer was considered a realist. He created landscapes exclusively, sometimes only enriched with small figures of staffage. He often used a panoramic type of composition. In his works, attention to drawing was also visible (noticeable, especially in watercolour sketches). Pejzaż z Norwegii [The Landscape from Norway], created in the last phase of his oeuvre, shows the durability of the principles of the Düsseldorf school. It shows an idealised way of perceiving the surrounding world and spirituality of nature, referring to the romantic style, but it does not lack reliable observation of nature either. One can also find here the influence of old Scandinavian painting.

Beata Małgorzata Wolska