View of the snow-covered Rax

Snow crowns the far peaks of the Rax, a mountain range in the eastern Alps not far from Vienna, while waves of purple hills tumble forward toward us. Koloman Moser painted this scene in 1910, and the whole canvas seems to hum with cool, hazy highland air. A small patch of golden meadow glows down in the valley, a warm surprise against the sweeping violet and gray tones that shape the rest of the picture.

Before he took up painting more seriously, Moser made his name as one of the founders of the Vienna Secession, the bold group of artists who broke from tradition around the turn of the century. He was mostly known as a designer, turning his hand to furniture, stained glass, jewelry, and even postage stamps, all in the name of weaving modern art into daily life. Landscapes like this one reveal a softer, more private side of him. The loose brushstrokes and pared-down forms give the mountains a dreamy stillness, suggesting he cared far more about the feeling of the place than an exact copy of what stood before him.