Gezicht op een berglandschap te Canazei, met op de voorgrond een gebouw before 1908

Hans Hildenbrand made this landscape, 'Gezicht op een berglandschap te Canazei, met op de voorgrond een gebouw', sometime between 1870 and 1957, using what looks like coloured pencil or paint. I imagine Hildenbrand standing there with his easel trying to capture the hugeness of the mountain against the smallness of the buildings. It looks like the scene is viewed through a stereoscope, so maybe this influenced his thinking? He might have been interested in the relationship between perception and reality, and how technology mediates our experience of the world. The colours are muted, almost pastel-like, which gives the scene a dreamlike quality. There's a sense of peace, but also a hint of melancholy. The scene feels both familiar and distant. It invites us to contemplate our place in the world and the passage of time, while also nodding to Cezanne's landscapes. Like all painters, Hildenbrand, whether he knew it or not, was engaging in a conversation with all the painters who came before him, asking questions, finding new ways to see and feel.