Walter Koeniger Landscape Oil Painting of Snowy Forest, Early 20th Century
Item Details
Walter Koeniger (Germany/New York, 1881-1943)
Untitled (snowy forest), early 20th century
Oil painting on canvas
Signed to the lower right
The son of an architect, Walter Koeniger was born in Germany in 1881. Pushed towards a career in architecture by his parents from an early age, Koeniger decided to follow a different path and enrolled at the Düssledorf Academy of Art where he studied under Eugene Gustav Dücker and Eduard Karl Franz Gebhardt. The artist later continued his education at the Imperial Art Academy of St. Petersburg where he encountered, and was influenced by, turn of the century Russian realism. Relocating once again, Koeniger settled in Woodstock, New York in 1912 where he would spend the remainder of his life painting. Emboldened by the fluctuating upstate landscape, Koeniger’s style began to stray from crisp un-yielding realism and instead championed a more painterly and expressive approach. His stylistic transformation is exemplified perfectly in this 1930 landscape capturing a rare and fleeting moment of sunlight in the winter months. In December of 1926, Vose Galleries featured Koeniger’s works. That same year the artist began to exhibit at the National Academy of Design where he returned in 1929, 1930, and 1931. Today his work can be found in the permanent collections of the Arizona State University Art Museum, University of Arizona Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Springville Museum of Art, Delval Fine Arts Consortium, and the Toledo Museum of Art as well as in a number of private collections.
- Item not examined outside of mounting
Condition
- some scratches and abrasions to the frame; significant crackle and craquelure throughout the painting; scratches and paint chipping throughout the composition; examined under UV light, retouching throughout, especially to the lower portion of the painting; negligible dust and residue along the surface; minor warping of the canvas.
Dimensions
- measures the frame; sight measures 36.5" W x 33.5" H.
Item #
ITMG881512
