Dents du Midi

The rugged summits of the Dents du Midi rise across this canvas, a well-known range in the Swiss Alps that has drawn painters for generations. Its creator, Koloman Moser, was an Austrian artist who made his name in design and helped launch the Vienna Secession, a bold group that split from tradition as the twentieth century began. Late in life he leaned into painting, favoring landscapes like this one, which he completed in 1913 only a few years before he died.

The brushwork here is loose and restless, giving the peaks a heavy, grounded weight while a soft bank of clouds tumbles across the lower half like a slow-moving sea. Moser stuck to a cool, narrow palette of blues, grays, and whites, and the result feels hushed and a little cold. His initials, KM, sit quietly in the bottom left corner. Rather than aiming to impress, this is a plain and sincere record of what it feels like to stand among the high mountains.