Carl Moll

Private Collection, England (acquired in the 1930s)

Private Collection, England (acquired by descent from the above)

Sotheby's, London, 20 November 2013, lot 57 (consigned by the above)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Bruntál, formerly known as Freudenthal, is a town located in Czech Silesia. Until 1918, Freudenthal was part of Austria-Hungary. Bruntál belongs to the Czech Massif and is situated between the Hrubý Jeseník mountains and the rolling hills of the Nízký Jeseník mountains. The town is known for its Baroque castle and historical buildings.

Carl Moll executed a number of views of Freudenthal during a visit in 1916, and it is likely that the present work was executed at that time. It is comparable to another view of an avenue in the park of Schloss Freudenthal, now lost. Another work from 1916 measuring 60.5 by 60.5cm depicts Freudenthal castle viewed from the meadows (see Carl Moll. Seine Freunde. Sein Leben. Sein Werk., 1985, p. 66).

Executed during the First World War, Moll’s landscapes from this period, whether they depict Freudenthal, Castle Förev in Pressburg or views from the Prater and the Danube meadows, can be read as expressing a deep-rooted yearning for harmony and positivity at a time that was marked by political and social conflict and turmoil, and the erosion of bourgeois culture and values. Nature is portrayed as peaceful, regenerative and timeless, a sunny antidote to the torrent of violence that was sweeping Europe at the time.