View from the Artist's Studio in Alservorstadt toward Dornbach by Jakob Alt - 1836 - 52.1 x 42.1 cm Albertina View from the Artist's Studio in Alservorstadt toward Dornbach by Jakob Alt - 1836 - 52.1 x 42.1 cm Albertina

View from the Artist's Studio in Alservorstadt toward Dornbach

Watercolor over pencil preparatory drawing • 52.1 x 42.1 cm

  • Jakob Alt - 27 September 1789 - 30 September 1872 Jakob Alt

    1836

The best-known watercolor of Jakob Alt, German painter and lithographer, is this View from the Artist's Studio, considered one of the finest interior scenes of the Biedermeier period. The open window fills the studio with light and fresh air, leading the eye beyond the rooftops of Vienna's suburbs to the wooded hills of the Vienna Woods. An empty chair, an easel, and a drawing table suggest that the artist has only just stepped away, inviting the viewer to imagine the creative process. 

The painting was commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, who admired the view from the Alt family's home. Jakob Alt carefully observed his everyday surroundings, contrasting the quiet order of the studio with the beautiful landscape beyond the window.

P.S. Some of the most famous paintings of a city viewed through the window, were made by one of the French Impressionist. Can you guess who was it? Here's the answer!