Biography:
Wilhelm Schacht (1872-1951) German painter, lithographer, graphic artist and illustrator. Wilhelm Schacht was a renowned landscape painter. He studied in Leipzig and Munich. In the initial period of his work, he turned to painting in the style of the Barbizon school. Nevertheless, some of his works were dominated by sentimental and atmospheric painting. In the interwar period, his style became more simple, loose and expressive. In 1923, the "Rothenburger Künstlerbund" society was established, one of the founders of which was Wilhelm Schacht. For most of his life, Schacht was active in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
The painting has a rectangular plan and shows a vast spring landscape with staffage. Static composition. In the foreground, the painter showed two children lying on green spring grass, holding yellow flowers in their hands - probably coltsfoot. Next to them is a basket filled with yellow flowers. The meadow located on a rather steep hill is richly decorated with flowers. A spreading, blooming apple tree is visible from the back. In the background there are several figures picking flowers and blooming trees. In the distance, a deep valley with a river winding lazily is visible. The painting has a rather monochromatic color range - yellow, blue, green and white. What is noteworthy is the very faithful reflection of the details of the characters shown in the foreground, e.g. details of clothing, faces, etc. The large amount of light and the angle of the shadow indicate that this scene takes place at high noon. Wilhelm Schacht lived and worked in the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and it is probably the surroundings of this city that were shown in this painting. This is indicated by the characteristic landscape of the Middle Franconia region and the Bavarian costumes of children. Spring is a beautiful painting subject, although relatively difficult. In the case of this painting, however, the artist managed to perfectly capture the charming and optimistic mood of the moment prevailing on sunny spring days, when the surrounding nature comes to life.
Oil on canvas. The painting is framed in a beautiful, massive, gilded wooden frame with rich ornamental decorations. Dimensions inside the frame: 60x46 cm. Dimensions including frame: 83x69 cm. Signed "W. Schacht" / "Litrca" (?). There is a torn sticker on the back of the loom - probably an auction (or gallery) sticker with the number 1022 (?).
