View of Paris

Painted in 1890 during Hörmann's Paris sojourn, this View of Paris represents an Austrian painter engaging directly with the city that was the centre of the Impressionist world. Paris as a subject had been painted by Impressionists from Monet to Pissarro, and Hörmann's version necessarily situates itself in relation to those precedents. His Austrian outsider's perspective on the French capital may have sharpened rather than blunted his observation — he was looking at the city with the combination of genuine admiration and slight foreignness that can sharpen perceptual attention. The Belvedere's acquisition of this work confirms that Hörmann's Paris paintings were valued in Austria as evidence of the country's connection to modern French art movements. 1890 was a productive year for Hörmann in France, when his technique was rapidly developing.

A Parisian cityscape requires adapting plein-air Impressionist technique to an urban subject: buildings, streets, figures in motion, the particular quality of Paris's grey-blue atmospheric light. Hörmann's palette for Parisian views tends toward silvery greys and blues with warm accents, capturing the city's characteristic tone. His brushwork in urban subjects follows architectural forms while maintaining Impressionist lightness.