Auguste de Molin

AUGUSTE DE MOLIN (Lausanne, Switzerland, 1821-1890).
"Two twilight mountain landscapes on Lake Vilsalpsee in the Austrian Tyrol".
Pair of oils on canvas.
One of them dated and signed.
Measurements: 90 x 110 cm; 116 x 136 cm (frame).

The painter Auguste de Molin shows us how, at dusk on Lake Vilsalpsee, in the Austrian Tyrol, the mountains of the Allgäu Alps are cut in soft silhouettes while the whitish light of the rising moon tinges the peaks and the alpine meadows of leaden tones; the water, clean and serene as a mirror, reflects the sky in transition to deep blues and violets, duplicating the landscape in an almost unreal scene, while the shadows lengthen over the pine forests and the air becomes cooler and quieter, creating an atmosphere of intense calm and serene beauty that envelops the entire valley.

Auguste de Molins was known for his paintings and animal scenes. Although his style is not considered fully Impressionist, he exhibited his works in France with painters of the Barbizon School and with artists associated with Impressionism since the early 1870s. He participated in the First Exhibition of Impressionist Painters in 1874 in Paris, where he was also portrayed by Nadar, and won critical acclaim. Molins lived and worked in France, presented works at the Paris Salon from 1850 and, after that period, returned to Lausanne, where he taught drawing and painting. His paintings, including hunting landscapes and scenes with dogs, are preserved, among other places, in the Museum of Neuchâtel.