Fritz Engelhardt about himself and his artistic motivation.

Spending time surrounded by nature and painting have been among my most important activities since childhood.

The central focus of my artistic work is landscape painting.

It’s mainly the mountains and their multiform, diversified beauty that keep drawing me back and whose allurement I try to capture in my pictures

The aura that emanates from the mountains creates a force field of mysticism and energy and is therefore also the decisive factor in my choice of a motif.

The dramatic art of light and shadow in the interplay of clouds and the resulting light effects and patterns of color create a tension that is manifested in an enthusiasm for a motif and forms the basis of the sculptural creative process.

That’s why my travels and mountaineering tours always take me to new destinations in the high Alps

In the alternation of natural occurrences lies a wealth of experiences that one can only experience particularly acutely in the feeling of exposure that one has in the mountains.

Nature determines the rules of the game. Mankind has to submit to these rules in the mountains especially. 

So it’s important to be fully aware of the influence of nature on the creative process.

                                             Quotation:

“A strong feeling for nature is the basis of all artistic creation.”

Paul Cézanne

My athletic activities in the high mountains caused me to turn to watercolors as a dominating creative medium in my work. 

This medium allows me to express an experience of an image spontaneously and on the spot, whereas another painting technique – particularly during high mountaineering tours – would hardly be capable of capturing it so well and quickly.

On the mountaineering tours in the exposed locations of the high Alps, drawings, watercolor studies and photos are indispensable records for me for further work in the studio.

Many generations of painters have taken walking tours in the mountains in order to capture in pictures the beauty and the drama as well of these landscapes.

They are my role models.

I hope I can convey something of the beauty and fascination of my mountain and nature experiences in my pictures.