Landschaft an den Osterseen 1905

Leo Putz made this landscape painting of the Osterseen, probably in oil on canvas, though I can’t be sure of the exact date. Looking at this, I get a sense of him really engaging with the luscious green landscape, responding to it with thick, juicy strokes of paint. Check out the way he’s built up the trees and foliage; you can almost feel the weight and density of the leaves. Then, see how he’s captured the light shimmering on the water's surface? It’s all about texture and the physicality of the paint. It makes me think of Monet, but with a more earthy, grounded feel. What strikes me most is the area in the middle ground where the sun hits the water, and those gestural marks that describe the trees become a haze of indistinct form. It’s like Putz is reminding us that painting isn’t just about representation, it's about exploring the possibilities of color and mark making. For me, art should always embrace ambiguity, and this painting definitely does that.