RUSS, Robert - b. 1847 Wien, d. 1922 Wien

Austrian painter. He attended the landscape class of the “mountain specialist” Albert Zimmermann (1808-1888) at the Vienna Academy from 1861 to 1868, and he was classified as an exponent of the “paysage intime.” The ensuing years were dominated by exhibitions and travels. In 1873, he was represented with five pictures at the Vienna World Exhibition. He received a number of commissions for the decoration of buildings along the Ring avenue.

In the 1880s and 1890s Russ won international acclaim and received several awards. From the mid-1890s onwards, he found his motifs primarily in South Tirol and on Lake Garda. A long productive period, marked by intensive international exhibition activity ensued after 1900. In his mature works, probably under the influence of Impressionism, Russ acquired a free, sketchy style of painting.

Mountain Torrent after the Storm

Drawing on the works of the Barbizon School, Russ sought to depict simple, everyday motifs together with the atmosphere characteristic of the time of year or day. In the present large-scale painting, he was intent on rendering the specific quality of the light immediately after a storm. He captured the atmosphere, which was marked by humidity and hazy light, with bold contrasts of light and shadow. Narrative elements, such as the bridge which had led to the isolated farmstead and which was destroyed by the storm, and the undamaged cross next to the racing torrent, emphasized the specific weather conditions.