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Core Record |
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| Title | In the Grip of Winter | |
| Collection | Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Artist | Attributed to Van Hier, August (Dutch artist, active late 19th century) Attributed to Hierschl-Minerbi, Joachim (Austrian, born 1834) |
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| Date Earliest | about 1880 | |
| Date Latest | about 1900 | |
| Signed | yes | |
| Description | A winter landscape with a frozen river. There is a black, stormy sky, in the distance the dark silhouette of a church and on the horizon, the narrow, gleaming lines of a fiery sunset. There is a central motif of a man and boy engaged in conversation on the ice. On the right of the composition, a line of trees along the river bank diminish in size establishing deep recession in space. Wooden boat moorings emerge from the frozen river. On the left, behind the trees, villagers make their way along a pathway alongside a row of snow covered cottages. The horizon is quite low enabling the artist to make a feature of the angry looking sky. The treatment is free, especially in the foreground where dry streaks of pigment describe the ice. | |
| Current Accession Number | FAO 36 | |
| Inscription | front lr 'Van Mier' or 'Van Hier'? | |
| Subject | landscape (winter) | |
| Measurements | 81.8 x 122.5 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Unknown. | |
| Notes | Dutch artist, August Van Hier (19th/20th century) is the most likely attribution. He painted coastal scenes with fishermen, nocturnal landscapes and one painting called Figures on Country Road in a Snowstorm (sold Phillip's, London, 17 March 1987, lot 63). Another possibility: Joachim van Hier, also known as Joachim Hierschl-Minerbi, born 1834 Trieste (Austrian)? | |
| Rights Owner | Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Author | Dr Patricia Smyth | |