Work group III · 8 works
Places and Seasons
Landscape, city and light in oil
This group of works shows Erich Graf without animals, but with the same attentiveness. A single tree in a summer meadow, a stream in autumn leaves, a snow-covered birch in the backlight of the winter sun, maple leaves against a blue sky: nature appears in the change of the seasons, closely observed and condensed in oil.
To these come places that Graf captured while traveling and from memory. The church towers of Kitzbühel before the Alps, a Paris flower market with the Eiffel Tower in haze, the skyline of Istanbul in morning light, sailboats on the Adriatic at sunset. Each place is told through its light.
Seasons
Cities and Coasts
Curatorial Perspective
I
Description
Eight oil paintings in formats from 60 × 80 to 80 × 100 cm. Leaves, snow, water and architecture are painted with the same precision as Graf’s animal pictures; haze, backlight and evening glow set the temperature of each picture.
II
Idea
Graf paints places as moods. For him, the seasons are not a calendar but states of light: the lush green of summer, the gold of autumn, the cold glow of winter. In the city and coastal pictures, the same light becomes the memory of a place and a time of day.
III
Context
The works stand in the tradition of European landscape and veduta painting, from nineteenth-century plein-air painting to today’s atmospheric realism. They show that Graf’s skill as a realist is not tied to the animal motif.
IV
What sets it apart
The group is divided into two chapters. “Seasons” shows four nature pictures that can be read and hung as a cycle. “Cities and Coasts” leads from the Alps via Paris and Istanbul to the Adriatic, each in a different light of day.
V
For collectors & spaces
Calm, accessible works for living spaces, hotels, restaurants, practices and companies seeking atmosphere and craftsmanship. The seasons pictures develop a special effect as an ensemble; the city views suit spaces connected to travel, hospitality and place.