(Untermieger 1824–1871 St. Ruprecht near Klagenfurt)
The Grossglockner,
oil on canvas, 32 x 39 cm, framed, (Rei)

Provenance:
Collection of Franz Georg Puntschart (1816–1872), Limmersach near Klagenfurt, directly acquired from the artist;
his heirs;
Private Collection, Vienna.

Compare:
Arnulf Rohsmann, Markus Pernhart, Die Aneignung von Landschaft und Geschichte, Heyn, Klagenfurt 1992, pp. 321, 323, 325 und 327.

Markus Pernhart was an Austrian landscape painter best known for his many depictions of Carinthian scenery.
Pernhart, who was originally from Grafenstein, studied under Eduard Ritter von Moro (1793-1846) in the city of Klagenfurt. As Moro himself had been a student of Franz von Steinfeld (1787-1868), the influence and legacy of both painters can be seen in Pernhart’s oeuvre. His first success was his album of 198 depictions of Carinthia’s landmarks, which had been commissioned by the entrepreneur Max von Moro (1817-1899).
Having sent several paintings to the monthly exhibition of the Association of Austrian Artists, he quickly caught the attention of the Empress Elisabeth, who kept a selection of 31 of his drawings of Carinthia’s notable sights and one of his paintings of the Großglockner in her collection.

A passionate and intrepid artist, Pernhart was devoted to his work. To get true representations of the nature surrounding him, he was not afraid to climb the Carinthian Alps or brave the cold of the shores of the Wörthersee. It is said in the Biographisches Lexikon des Kaisertums Österreichs that he would sit there for hours to paint snow and ice, heating his frozen hands and his colours with a pan filled with hot coals. Of his alpine views, those depicting the summit of the Großglockner are undeniably the most beautiful and breath-taking. As Pernhart had climbed Austria’s highest mountain about ten times, he was able to create topographically accurate representations of it. His works were already highly appreciated by alpine enthusiasts of that time. Indeed, the Austrian Alpenverein purchased one of his Großglockner panoramas, now preserved at the Landesmuseum Klagenfurt, in 1860.
The figures he included in the present work, that appear tiny against the immensity of the Großglockner, are no mere staffage; with them he communicates the exhilarating feeling, sense of achievement and companionship, that brings the alpinists represented here together. Here Pernhart shows us a still, unburdened scene from nature with which we can easily connect.