Blick in die Klausen bei Mödling 1942

Carl Moll made this painting, Blick in die Klausen bei Mödling, with oil on canvas. You can see he’s really working with the paint, building up a surface of brushstrokes that feel both deliberate and intuitive. It’s like he’s trying to capture not just what he sees, but how he feels being there. The texture is so alive, especially in that big rock on the right. The greens and browns are layered, almost sculpted, giving the rock a real weight and presence. Then, look at how he handles the distant mountains – soft blues and grays, creating depth. It’s like the paint itself is breathing. And there’s something about the way he’s used light, casting these shadows, that makes the whole scene feel so intimate. Thinking about contemporaries, you might see similarities with the plein air landscapes of someone like Gustave Courbet. But Moll brings something else, a kind of interiority, to the way he sees the natural world. Ultimately, it reminds you that art is as much about feeling as it is about seeing.