Landscape Painter – Walter Moras

Onward with seasonal landscape painters…

With many painters, their works may be known, but when it comes to biographies, information is quite scarce.

Walter Moras (1856-1925) was a German landscape painter, born in Cottbuss, Germany  moving to Berlin at a young age. He was a student of painter Herman Eschke who encouraged him to travel about and paint scenes in Mecklenburg, the Island of Rugen, Norway, the Netherlands and Italy. Many of his paintings are from rural Brandenburg in the Spree Forest. Spree Forest is described as ” a unique landscape consisting of countless waterways that criss-cross the glacial valley now partially covered by forest and by meadows. The mystic and contemplative quality of this natural setting was the inspiration for many 19th century authors and painters who found beauty and solace among the trees and pathways of the forest.”¹

Moras became known for specializing in winter scenes in the realistic style. He gives great attention to detail (I kept coming back to his paintings as they stand out for this) incorporating warmer hues in his snowy themes.  It was pointed out that his paintings have a “touch of melancholia” but I don’t see any gloom or sadness in them, just a contemplative feel. It seems like we are right there with the painter viewing the scene.

¹Odonwagnergallery.com

Here are a few of his winter scenes. I’d like to walk along this path with my dog too!

Hunter in a Wintry Forest

Here is one that is more impressionistic in style (most of his are not), but uses warm colors in the snow.

Snowy Mill

This next one is quite dark, but gives a good depiction of low lights as the sun is setting.

Fishing Village in Wintertime

I’ll repeat the post’s featured image because I like his rock outcropping depiction so much and the translucency of the stream.

Snowy Stream

I hope you are enjoying these featured landscape artists. It is interesting to see the world through their eyes.  If you have any painters you’d like to see in a post, please let me know.