Children at the Window

Here Waldmüller vividly captures a brief, unspectacular moment with convincing intensity. Cheerful children are scrambling from a dark interior to a window. They look at the person regarding them with friendly eyes. The already extreme illusionistic effect of the picture is further enhanced by the gesture of the boy pointing his finger at the viewer, his arm almost appearing to project from the picture. The bright sunlight casts sharply defined shadows. With his sharp chiaroscuro contrasts, the artist, who describes his “...principal concern being the persuasive record of light and shade...”, achieves an impressively realistic effect of the different surface textures. Once again, Waldmüller demonstrates the “splendour of simplicity” with precise detail in the frame and wall. Delicate climbing roses mellow the poverty of the subject and reflect life in full bloom. At the time of this painting, depiction of festively dressed peasant children was a popular motif, with no socio-critical pretension. Waldmüller had previously treated the subject of window-painting, a classic motif of European art. The version entitled Peasant Woman with Three Children at the Window, dated 1840, is in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich (inv. no. 12.895).

OEHRING Erika: Waldmüller Ferdinand Georg, Children at the Window, in: DUCKE Astrid, HABERSATTER Thomas, OEHRING Erika: Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2015, p. 162