Waterfall at Stange in Hedmark

Gerhard Munthe was initially a Norwegian naturalist landscape painter before his transformation into one of the pioneers of Norwegian national Romantic and decorative art. This 1886 waterfall at Stange in Hedmark belongs to his naturalist landscape period — direct observations of the Norwegian countryside made with a freshness and technical confidence that reflects his Munich training. Waterfalls were a quintessential Norwegian landscape subject, connecting the national landscape tradition back to the great Romantic painters and forward to the plein-air naturalism of the 1880s.

Munthe renders the waterfall with direct, fluid strokes that capture the movement of water over rocks. The surrounding forest and rocky terrain are treated with his characteristic naturalist attention to the specific character of Norwegian woodland. The palette is cool and fresh — the particular quality of northern mountain water and surrounding vegetation.