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A rough dirt track cuts through this valley scene by Louis Gurlitt, the Danish-German painter who lived from 1812 to 1897. Fallen logs lie scattered across the foreground, mossy boulders pile up near a weathered wooden building on the left, and two tiny figures stand far off on the path, made small by the wooded hills rising behind them. Gurlitt spent much of his life traveling across Europe, and he cared more about capturing the feeling of a place than copying every detail. This spot, probably somewhere in Scandinavia or the German countryside, feels quiet and a little tired.

Though Gurlitt worked within the Romantic tradition, he skipped the usual grand mountains and dramatic storms here. Instead he painted a plain working landscape, complete with rutted earth, cut timber, and patchy grass that has clearly seen plenty of use. The soft browns and greens, warmed by a fading light, give the whole thing a calm and slightly sad mood. This is an unremarkable corner of the world at first glance, which is part of what makes it worth pausing over.