(Dessau 1850–1937 Merkenstein) Country Road near Plankenberg, signed and dated H. Darnaut 1898, oil on canvas, 83 x 112 cm, framed, (Rei)

Compare:
Gerbert Frodl, Verena Traeger (Eds..), Stimmungsimpressionismus, exhibition Oberes Belvedere Vienna, 17 March - 4 July 2004, exhibition catalogue, p. 92 no. 40 (painting in the property of the Niederösterreichischen Landesmuseums St. Pölten).

Hugo Darnaut,
who was born in Dessau and went to school in Graz, came to Vienna at the age of eighteen and worked at first with the court’s theatrical scene painter Hermann Burghart and with Josef Hoffmann. In 1871 he joined Eduard Peithner von Lichtenfels’ class at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. His talent was quickly recognised; by 1872 he had won the Füger medal which brought him a travel scholarship to Düsseldorf. On his return to Vienna he set up his own studio and was in contact with other well-known artists of his time including Emil Jakob Schindler, Tina Blau and Robert Russ. After the death of Emil Jakob Schindler in 1893 he took over Schloss Plankenberg where - as Schindler had done - he taught many students, amongst whom were Rosa Mayreder, Therese Schachner and Anni von Demuth. Later he relocated his summer studio to the Gschwendthof near Maria Anzbach and to Schloss Merkenstein. Darnaut’s works were already highly esteemed during his own lifetime, evidenced by the many honours and medals he received. (Cf. Elisabeth Roth, in: Stimmungsimpressionismus, exhibition catalogue, Vienna 2004, p. 88)