Peasant's Sunday

Throughout his life, Alfons Walde was interested in people in their natural environment. He mostly captured the Tyrolean farming world - his homeland - and its village life. Characteristic are the roughly sketched faces of the people, which, however, are always in harmony with their scenic surroundings. Walde was particularly fascinated by the gathering of people on festive occasions in mountain landscapes or village squares. In our painting "Bauernsonntag", the depiction of two sturdy men in festive garb stretches almost across the entire height of the picture space. The artist did not give his figures individual facial features, he merely captured the emotion and situation of the moment through facial expressions and gestures, without identifying any particular person. This painting succeeds in creating an outstanding composition with subtle colours. The only red colour accent can be seen in the hat of the peasant on the left. As in other works, Walde played virtuously here with the correspondence of light and shadow.