“Tiroler Dorfstrasse im Winter” (Aurach at Kitzbühel), 1934, signed A. Walde and on the reverse a label: “Alfons Walde Kitzbühel, Tirol Austria”, in the artist’s handwriting: “Tiroler Dorfstrasse im Winter 1934”, oil on cardboard, 59.5 x 50 cm, in original artist’s frame

Registered:
Alfons Walde Archive

Compare:
Gert Ammann, Alfons Walde, Vierte erweiterte Auflage, Tyrolia Verlag, 2001, p. 273 – Tyrolian mountain village (Auracher Kircherl)
Egger Lienz/Walde/Berg, 3 Ausstellungen/3 Maler/3 Orte, Museum der Stadt Lienz Schloss Bruck/Museum Kitzbühel Sammlung Walde/Werner Berg Museum Bleiburg/Plibertz, Hirmer Verlag, 2012, p. 73

Provenance:
Private Collection, France
Inherited by a niece in Germany

“Around 1923, Walde returned to his focused observation of the landscape, and from then on, he often depicted figures going about their business in inseparable unity with their surroundings. This can be seen, for example, in his painting of the small village of Aurach and the onion dome of its church, which he repeated multiple times.”

Egger Lienz/Walde/Berg, Über das Land, Museum der Stadt Lienz Schloss Bruck,
Hirmer, Vienna 2012, p. 71

Walde masterfully captures vast landscapes and depicts the interplay of light by delicately harmonising the colours he uses.
The thick yet gossamer-fine layer of snow, the rugged rocks and the texture of the walls of the buildings are all created by the generous application of paint.
He generates strong contrasts through subtle gradations in the white of the snow and the lush shades of blue that are placed next to it, allowing the viewer to feel the cold of winter on their skin.
The motif of two women in traditional costume, wearing a red cape and blue apron, and either meeting each other or following each other, cropped up in his works from very early on.
The reduced form, simplified by intensely, luminously coloured surfaces, gives a certain amount of heaviness to his figures.

Alongside the painting “Tiroler Bergdorf” (Auracher Kirchl), “Aufstieg” is probably one of Walde’s best-known subjects. The two works were created for a 1924 competition designed to advertise the Tyrol region, for which Alfons Walde won first and second prize.
The two motifs were turned into posters with the caption “Tyrol” and thus became a symbol of the region’s winter wonderland.