Walter Moras

WALTER MORAS (Germany, 1856-1925).
"German village".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 59 x 99,5 cm; 93,5 x 134 cm.
Walter Moras immortalized, with a palette rich in autumnal shades, the beautiful villages of Brandenburg. This painting probably depicts a village in this German region. The rustic architecture is integrated into the landscape forming an organic whole. The sky lightly veiled by frayed clouds filters the silver lights that cover the vegetation with a melancholic and poetic touch.
Walter Moras was a German landscape painter who specialized in winter scenes and mountain villages. He was significantly influenced by the marine and landscape painter Hermann Eschke (1823-1900). In Berlin, where Moras was born, he obtained his artistic training in Eschke's studio. In 1876, he held his first exhibition at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. From then on, Moras's works were exhibited continuously at major art exhibitions in Berlin, and he also participated in fairs and exhibitions in Bremen, Oldenburg and Munich. On Eschke's recommendation, the young Moras painted scenes in Mecklenburg and on the rugged German island of Rügen. He also painted in Norway, the Netherlands and Italy. However, many of his works were created in rural Brandenburg and later in Spreewald, both in the Berlin region. He hardly painted in Berlin, although he was described as a "Berlin painter" all his life. Moras' style was realistic, simple yet refined. Some of his evocative landscapes show impressionistic influences. In later years he became known for large-format a plein air scenes illuminated by warm autumn colors. His numerous winter landscapes, which were composed with great attention to detail, also liked to show warm tones amidst a snowy environment. Moras was not a member of the Berlin Artists' Association, nor was he involved in any of the northern German artists' colonies, although he was sometimes invited to paint in these associations.