Το Εσπέρας σε Λίμνη με Χωριό

000081 Conrad Wimmer, Night in a Lake with a Village, n.d., oil on cardboard, 77 × 92.5 cm

The composition is divided into two major zones. One third of the painting is occupied by land and water, but the sky covers the largest part. A thin band of land and the boat of a fisherman are depicted on the left. Further back, the houses of a small village can be seen; the tall bell tower stands out on the horizon. The right part of the painting is a juxtaposition of water and sky, a game of surfaces, transparency and colour. Nothing happens in that simple landscape painting. What the artist is primarily interested in is to capture the moment of sunrise on the horizon, with the few clouds adding a dramatic tone. Conrad Wimmer, an artist who studied at the Düsseldorf Academy, but who travelled to Paris and came into fruitful contact with French art, attempts in this painting to combine two artistic traditions: 17th century Dutch landscape painting (Baroque) and 19th century French realism. While the composition is inspired by paintings by Esaias van de Velde, Jan van Goyen and others, stylistically Wimmer is related to the Barbizon School painters, especially Jean-François Millet. The particularly charming painting, however, is reminiscent of Dutch landscapes.