Description
Storm Mountain is a 1910 oil painting by Egon Schiele: a wide, low hill of ploughed fields under a heavy white and grey storm sky, with a dark clump of trees and a small pointed spire on the crest. The original measures 65.6 x 35.1 cm. We paint it by hand in oils on canvas at the size you choose, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work for approval.
| Title: | Storm Mountain |
| Other titles: | German: Gewitterberg |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1910 |
| Original size (width × height): | 65.6 x 35.1 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 65 x 35 cm to 165 x 90 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Storm Mountain – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
The canvas is very wide and low, so the hill runs the full width of it. The lower half is taken up by ploughed fields in brown, olive and ochre, laid in long parallel bands that follow the shape of the slope. On the crest stands a dark clump of trees with a small pointed spire beside it – the only sign that the place is lived in. At the lower left a pale track curves upward. The upper half belongs to the sky: a dense white and grey mass, painted soft, with no hard edges. There are no figures in it.
Why do people love it?
Because it is a landscape that settles a room rather than loading it. The colours are earth colours – brown, olive, ochre, grey – and they get on with wood, leather and a white wall without pushing themselves forward. At the same time the picture is under tension: that sky is plainly the one before a storm, so the scene has a mood and not only a view. For a buyer, though, the decisive thing is the shape. A panoramic format is rare, and it solves exactly the walls most pictures are too tall for: over a bed, over a sofa, over a long sideboard, over a door.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among Schiele’s landscapes, painted alongside the portraits and the townscapes. Related works in our selection are Mountain by the River, Landscape with Ravens, Bare Trees, Houses and Shrine and Setting Sun. Storm Mountain dates from 1910. The full selection is in the Egon Schiele gallery, with more on his life in our article about Egon Schiele.
How is our hand-painted version made?
A painter works every canvas in oils, stroke by stroke: a hand-painted painting made for your order, not a machine print. Two things are hard here. The first is the sky. The whites and greys are painted wet into wet, while the colour is still open, and they have to stay soft while the land below them stays sharp; if the two layers meet too late, the sky goes hard as stone. The second is the plough furrows: long parallel strokes that give the hill its shape. Every one has to follow the slope, or the field flattens and the hill loses its weight. Like the original, our copy is oil on canvas. When it is finished we photograph it and send you the photograph for approval, and only then does it ship. We have not yet painted or photographed this work in our workshop, so the only photograph on this page is of the original and there are no workshop photographs yet.
Which size for which wall?
The original is 65.6 cm wide and 35.1 cm high, and our smallest size, 65 x 35 cm, matches it almost exactly. Above the head of a bed or a two-seater, 100 x 55 cm; above a large sofa, a long sideboard or a dresser, 120 x 65 cm or 145 x 80 cm; along a corridor or above a wide door, 165 x 90 cm; in a smaller room, on a shelf or above a desk, 65 x 35 cm. For a panoramic format there is a simple rule: the picture should be about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Hang it with the centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor.
Custom size, stretcher and frame
If none of our sizes suits your wall, we paint the work to your own measurement. If you choose “YES” under the Stretcher option, the canvas comes stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang. Our 3D application is for choosing a frame only, not for showing the work on your wall. The frame is chosen separately and need not be part of the order.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint to order and deliver to sixteen countries in the European Union, among them Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Germany and France; the United Kingdom and Ireland are not currently among them. The painting arrives protectively packed and, if you chose “YES” under Stretcher, stretched on the stretcher; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work to approve. Production time depends on the size and on the studio’s workload. Every order is covered by our Returns and Refund Policy.
Frequently asked questions
What does Storm Mountain show?
A wide, low hill of ploughed fields under a heavy storm sky. A dark clump of trees and a small pointed spire stand on the crest, and a pale track curves up from the lower left. There are no figures in it.
When did Schiele paint it?
In 1910, when he was 20. Schiele died in Vienna in 1918 at the age of 28, so this is an early work.
Which colours dominate?
Brown, olive and ochre in the fields, white and grey in the sky, and dark green in the clump of trees on the crest.
Why is the picture so wide?
Because the original is: it is nearly twice as wide as it is tall. That is exactly why it solves walls an ordinary picture is too tall for – over a bed, over a sofa or over a door.
Is there a building in it?
A small pointed spire stands beside the dark clump of trees on the crest. There are no other buildings, and no people.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
Is this a print?
No. Every canvas is painted by hand in oils by a painter, for your order. We photograph the finished work and send you the photograph before it is dispatched.
How do I look after it?
Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators and damp. Dust it with a dry soft brush; never use water or detergent on an oil painting.
