Johannes Saal 1911–1964 Study of a Landscape. 1957

Johannes Saal’s nerve-wracked life did not put an end to his art. Its mercurial nature reflected the fluctuations in the author’s mood, which could range from intoxication to despair. In the context of the 1950s, this painting is unusually freehand, almost to the point of total abstraction, even though this was forbidden. We do not look at the landscape, but at the fusion of colours and forms. Saal has given the painting a specific date, but it does not appear to be documentary. Saal has not sought to capture a single precise moment in the landscape, but rather to chronicle a personal state of mind. Here and there that day, the landscape triggered such feelings in him – probably a certain liberation, a brightness, a courage.