Landschaft 1903

Christian Rohlfs’ ‘Landschaft’ is an intriguing landscape painting constructed through broken brushstrokes and a muted palette. The composition is dominated by an expansive sky filled with towering clouds, which seem to dwarf the horizontal stretch of land below. Rohlfs employs an almost pointillist technique, building up the forms with dabs of colour that suggest rather than define. The sky, rendered in soft blues and whites, merges seamlessly with the earth in shades of green and yellow, creating a sense of atmospheric unity. This technique reflects the broader artistic concerns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when artists were increasingly interested in capturing fleeting moments and subjective experiences of the world. What is particularly striking is how Rohlfs’ fractured brushwork destabilizes traditional notions of landscape painting. He is not trying to create a perfect illusion of nature; instead, he offers an interpretation that is fragmented and open to multiple readings. The painting challenges the idea of a fixed, objective reality and encourages viewers to engage with the artwork as a field of shifting sensations and interpretations.