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Although Koloman Moser (1868–1918) had withdrawn from the Wiener Werkstätte in 1907, he continued to undertake design work in his later years. This included design for stamps, and particularly of stage sets for productions in Vienna. But his focus remained on painting, in which he turned increasingly to figurative works.

Koloman Moser (1868–1918), Self-portrait (c 1914), oil on canvas, 75 x 75 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.

His Self-portrait from about 1914 is unusual, not for depicting him in the act of sketching a landscape, but for setting himself in the remains of a building which almost comes to dominate the image. His skin tones are now a light ochre, matching the stone walls.

Koloman Moser (1868–1918), Study for ‘Three Crouching Women’ (c 1914), pencil, Indian ink and pen and red pencil on canvas mounted on paper, 21 x 28.5 cm, Die Sammlung Leopold, Vienna, Austria. Wikimedia Commons.

This study…

Lara is a Russian female name, a shortened form of Larissa, the name of a city in Thessaly, Greece, that dates back to five thousand years ago (it’s also the name of a few other towns in the region). Apparently the city received its name from a nymph named Larissa, the daughter of Pelasgus (or the mother in some versions) and which means “stronghold”, “citadel”, or “fortress”. I’ve also seen other sites list it as being derived from  Ancient Greek larix meaning “larch (tree)”, laros, referring to a cormorant or a gull, or laros “sweet, pleasing to the taste”, but I can’t say how accurate any of them are.

Lara could also be a short form of Larunda, also a nymph in Roman mythology (also associated with Muta and Tacita). She was a great talker and couldn’t keep secrets to herself and revealed to Juno that her…

In 1914, Egon Schiele’s works were exhibited around Germany as part of the travelling Werkbund Exhibition, and in Rome, Brussels and Paris. In the summer, he started making drypoint etchings.

Egon Schiele (1890–1918), Krumau an der Moldau (The Small Town III) (1913-14), oil and black chalk on canvas, 99.5 x 120.5 cm, Die Sammlung Leopold, Vienna, Austria. Image by Yelkrokoyade, via Wikimedia Commons.

Krumau an der Moldau (The Small Town III) (1913-14) is based on a view over the town of Krumau from Castle Hill, which is on the opposite bank of the river. Comparison with photographs reveals how faithful this painting is, but Schiele replaced a more modern block of flats at the lower right with a building which appears more in keeping with the mediaeval town.

Although Schiele has continued to remove much of the depth from his view, its buildings still retain some degree of perspective, as…

Genever is a variant spelling of Jenever, the Dutch form of Juniper, referring to a shrub or tree with dark-blue berry-like cones that can be used for flavoring gin and has some medicinal use; Jenever is the name of a Dutch wine flavored with juniper. It comes from Latin iuniperus (juniper tree), of uncertain origin though it’s been linked to Latin iuncus (rush, reed) derived from a PIE source. It sounds similar to Jennifer but the two are not related in any way.

Origin: Latin, Proto-Indo-European

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Variants:

• Jenever (Dutch, English)
• Genievre (French)
• Genièvre (French)

For those of us who live beyond the Tropics, I look on autumn/fall as being compensation in advance for what we’re about to suffer in the winter, and Spring as our reward for getting through. In this and the next article, I’d like to celebrate over three centuries of magnificent paintings of the spectacle which we enjoy during the autumn. I will keep my commentary to a minimum, and just let you enjoy these marvellous paintings.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526/7–1593), Autumn (1573), oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Wikimedia Commons.

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), An Autumn Landscape with a View of Het Steen in the Early Morning (c 1636), oil on oak, 131.2 x 229.2 cm, The National Gallery (Sir George Beaumont Gift, 1823/8), London. Courtesy of and © The National Gallery, London.

One of Rubens’ last paintings, made during his ‘retirement’ and probably within five…