Elm-lined promenade in Euxinograd

Painted in 1903, this sunny landscape by Olga Wisinger-Florian follows a shady path lined with elm trees at Euxinograd, a royal summer retreat on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. Wildflowers in bright reds, purples, and yellows crowd both edges of the trail, and a glimpse of the sea appears through the trees on the right. The light filters down through the leaves and scatters across the dusty ground, giving the whole scene the feel of a warm afternoon walk.

Wisinger-Florian was one of Austria's leading Impressionists at the turn of the twentieth century, and she came to painting fairly late in her life. She used her success to speak up for women artists during a time when schools and galleries frequently kept them out. Her handling of paint is thick and loose here, with chunky strokes that catch the light and give the flowers and sun-baked earth a rough, energetic texture. The subject is modest, just a garden stroll by the sea, but it carries a genuine fondness for color and for the place itself.