WINTER THEMES

Undoubtedly, Walde’s most widely recognized work consists of his winter landscapes. Many of them show evidence of the full power of his expressive side, as it emerged in the aftermath of WWI, while they also reveal a component of “heaviness” that underlies the artist’s perception of natural forms. The distinctive manner in which he depicted the wide, smooth hills around Kitzbühel, with the Wilder Kaiser (a mountain in Kitzbühel) juxtaposed in the background, will forever stand as a tour de force in landscape painting. Walde painted his massive wintery motifs by forming primordial, amorphous and “plasticized” surfaces and structural elements, only to fine-tune them with an uncanny sense of mood and balance. His soft, pastose, almost dry style of painting permitted him to create ever changing nuances of interplaying light, as it literally vibrates across the natural forms he depicted. The stunning blue sky in its full density is also an indispensable element of his landscapes, where the mountains rarely reach the top of the frame in his effort to provide the ultimate amount of contrast.

In virtually all examples of Walde’s most characteristic work, a very expressive message is undeniably evident. In his paintings Winterlandschaft (Winter Landscape), Steinbergkogel and Aufstieg (Ascent) he used a very reduced style of composition. Relying on precise forms, he effectively created a very natural, realistic interpretation. In terms of style, these works (created between 1924 and 1926) are classified as belonging to the movement known as Die Neue Deutsche Sachlichkeit (in English, objective realism).

Winterlandscape “Winterlandschaft”, 1926

Oil on canvas, 45.08 x 61.81 in (114,5 x 157 cm)
Tiroler Landesmuseum, Ferdinandeum

The Alps in White “Almen im Schnee”, 1926

Oil on canvas, 50.39 x 39.57 in (128 x 100,5 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

The Alps in White II “Trattalmen”, around 1932

Oil on cardboard, 13.97 x 11.77 in (35,5 x 29,9 cm) 
privately owned

Short Day “Der kurze Tag”, around 1932

Oil on cardboard, 16.29 x 27.55 in (43 x 70 cm) 
privately owned

Cable-Car Hahnenkamm “Hahnenkammbahn”,
around 1928

Tempera on cardboard, 21.26 x 19.49 in (54 x 49,5 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

Steinbergkogel “Steinbergkogel”, around 1926

Tempera on cardboard, 24.8 x 19.49 in (63 x 49,5 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

Bichlalm, Farmland in Kitzbühel “Bichlalm”, 1918

Tempera on cardboard, 17.32 x 21.65 in (44 x 55 cm)
Auktionshaus Hassfurther

Powder-Snow “Neuschnee (Kitzbüheler Horn)”,
around 1925/30

Oiltempera on cardboard, 22.05 x 17.32 in (56 x 44 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

Lonely Winter “Einsamer Winter”, around 1935

Oil on Cardboard, 9.06 x 11.42 in (23 x 29 cm)
privately owned

Farm in March “Almen im März”, 1937

Oil on Cardboard, 19.29 x 27.56 in (49 x 70 cm)
privately owned

Solitary Farm “Einsamer Berghof”, 1934

Oil on cardboard, 12.99 x 20.87 in (33 x 53 cm)
privately owned

Mountain Farm “Berghof”, around 1935

Oil on cardboard, 12.99 x 20.87 in (33 x 53 cm)
privately owned

Farm, Wilder Kaiser “Hof am Wilden Kaiser”, 1932

Oil on cardboard, 16.53 x 23.62 in (42 x 60 cm)
Auktionshaus Dorotheum

House next to the River “Haus am Achrain”, 1935

Oil on cardboard, 13.19 x 20.67 in (33,5 x 52,5 cm)
Auktionshaus Hassfurther

Farmhouse, Wilder Kaiser
“Am Achrain mit Wilden Kaiser”, around 1935

Oil on cardboard, 19.29 x 27.55 in (49 x 70 cm)
Kunsthandel Freller

Idyllic Winter “Winteridylle”, about 1934

Oil on Cardboard, 16.35 x 20.66 in (42 x 52,5 cm)
Kunsthandel Wienerroither & Kohlbacher

Ranch in Tyrol “Bergweiler (Weiler in Tirol)”, 1935

Oil on Cardboard, 13.19 x 20.67 in (33,5 x 52,5 cm)
Auktionshaus Hassfurther

Street in Tyrolen Village “Dorfstraße in Tirol”, 1935

Oil on cardboard, 13.19 x 20.67 in (33,5 x 52,5 cm)
privately owned

The Church of Aurach
“Tiroler Berghof (Auracher Kirchl)”, around 1927/30

Oil on cardboard, 23.62 x 16.54 in (60 x 42 cm)
Kunsthandel Wienerroither & Kohlbacher

Cross on a Path “Wegkreuz”, 1924

Oil on canvas, 30.71 x 39.37 in (78 x 100 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

The Andreas-Church in the Sunset
“Andreaskirche im Abendrot”, around 1924

Tempera on cardboard, 16.14 x 16.93 in (41 x 43 cm)
privately owned

Crosses on Graves “Grabkreuze”, around 1920

Oil on Cardboard, 27.56 x 27.56 in (70 x 70 cm)
Museum Kitzbühel

The Way to Home “Am Heimweg”, around 1923

Tempera and pencil on paper, c. 6.93 x 9.64 in (160 x 245 mm)
Museum Kitzbühel

Farmhouse close to Kitzbühel
“Bauernhof bei Kitzbühel”, around 1930

Oil on cardboard, 20.47 x 16.54 in (52 x 42 cm)
privately owned

Häuser im Gebirg, um 1932

Öl auf Karton, 32,7 x 52 cm
Privatbesitz

End of Winter “Spätwinter”, around 1932

Oil on cardboard, 16.14 x 26.37 in (41 x 67 cm)
privately owned