Der Wasserfall am Altenstein bei Meiningen c. 1790 - 1794

Curator: What a wonderfully muted and evocative scene! This is "The Waterfall at Altenstein near Meiningen," a watercolor and graphite drawing by Georg Melchior Kraus, dating from around 1790 to 1794. It's currently held at the Städel Museum. Editor: It gives the impression of fading, doesn’t it? Like a memory viewed through layers of mist. The composition, though seemingly simple, leads your eye expertly from those tiny figures in the boat, up towards the imposing rocks and the cascading water. Curator: Absolutely. Kraus was quite taken with nature, it seems. It's recorded that he took inspiration *en plein air,* and you can certainly sense that direct engagement. There is something so incredibly pure in these plein air drawings; you know, no academic frills—nothing contrived about the scene. The work exudes raw energy through an extremely restricted palette. It is almost a gray scale. Editor: Yes, let’s not ignore his commitment to watercolors as an act of labor—an act to study landscape through raw materials, through mixing graphite and pigments… Watercolor drawings allowed the artist a certain ease, and these sketches are transportable; you could roll up or transport stacks. Watercolors would have offered the artist a low cost compared to canvas and oils, or the burden of painting "on site" with slow drying pigments and tools that would necessitate transport. Curator: Indeed. The choice of medium aligns beautifully with the subject. The translucency of watercolor perfectly captures the ethereal quality of the scene; especially those distant hazy hills, just barely suggested. And look at the rapid sketch lines—it conveys a sense of fleeting observation, of capturing a momentary experience with utmost spontaneity! He lets his colors flow freely! What strikes me, perhaps most profoundly, is the undeniable human element. Those two little figures; somehow ennobled against this vast nature. They are at peace with the scene! They add humanity and tenderness, yet, simultaneously remind the viewer how nature surpasses man in scale. Editor: The material fragility reflects back upon those transient lives… Paper as commodity and support reminds the viewer to value these landscapes that must, ultimately, decompose… Curator: True. So much within it calls back to notions of Romanticism; it really tugs at your emotions, doesn't it? There's a reverence here that completely captivates me every time I return. Editor: Yes, by framing that waterfall and figure, by selecting certain pigments from his available materials, Kraus offers both himself, and later, viewers, a certain dominion, a type of claim to landscape itself. A potent commentary on our place in a world ever on the verge of decay, wouldn't you say?