The natural beauty of Switzerland, its varied and picturesque landscapes have always attracted painters. The undulating plateau, crystal glacial lakes, rapid mountain rivers and alpine ridges became a source of inspiration for the German artist Hans Thoma. A subtle colorist and a master of painting en plein air, he left over 900 pictures in various styles. His “Swiss Landscape” entered the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum in 1918 from a private collection.

Hans Thoma worked in various genres. One part of his legacy includes fairy-tale characters and mythological heroes of ancient sagas: knights in armor, creatures with chicken legs and tails, babies riding birds, Adam and Eve, gods and other fantastic creatures. The other part includes idyllic pictures of children’s round dances, lyrical young women and peasants at rest — these works brought him the fame of the “second Ludwig Richter.”

The Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum presents a work that shows love for one’s place of birth. The landscape painter vividly conveyed the blooming meadows, remote mountain villages, noisy waterfalls, and green hills. In the paintings, the nature of Switzerland and central Germany, the banks of the Rhine and Main create space and depth. Hans Thoma preferred to paint from the low point of view so that the perspective would be more complex and picturesque. His lush landscapes and vibrant colors meticulously feature every detail of the surrounding world and display the artist’s admiration for the beauty of his Motherland. The painting “Swiss Landscape” is a remarkable manifestation of all these traits.

Hans Thoma lived and worked in many European cities, and was the director of the Art Museum and an art professor in Karlsruhe, Germany. 25 years after the artist’s death, the Hans Thoma Museum was opened in his hometown of Bernau.