Jungfrau Mountain

Rugen, the Rappard Family’s Private Park
The Rugenpark with its spectacular view of the Bernese Alps enabled Clara von Rappard to paint in open air. At the end of the 19th c. it was still considered unseemly for a woman to draw and paint out of doors. In the protected area of Rugen, used by the family like a private park, the artist could study unpertubed the most beautiful motifs of landscape and mountains. From 1880 at the latest, she turned to open-air painting, at the age of 23. «Clara is painting diligently, now the Jungfrau, as it rises out of the morning mists», as Conrad von Rappard writes in a letter of this year.

Jungfrau
The artist’s favorit mountain was the Jungfrau, which she painted in many variations. These paintings and drawings hold a unique position within Swiss landscape painting. The representations of Jungfrau and other motifs render momentary views: Through delicate veils of clouds and mist, fields of snow light up, gorges and valleys sink into deep shadows. The range of colours is restricted to tones of white, gray and blue, occasionally interspersed with a little green or yellow. If one looks for a model of this rather unique interpretation, only William Turner comes to mind; he did Swiss mountain landscapes in similar light and colour conditions at the beginning of the 19th c. While he preferred spectacular events, Clara von Rappard rather stayed with quiet and changeable formations of light and shadow, of clouds and mist.

Clara von Rappard as Open-air Painter
«The artistic assignment that I like best is expressing a momentary feeling which comes to me in a flash as a completed picture, absolutely clear, so one has only to grab it», as she described her approach. It is in this field that she achieved the height of her art. Apart from the landscapes she also did portraits out of doors, aimed at the intrinsic value of light and the individuality of the sitter.

Humboldtsruhe

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
One of Conrad von Rappolds friends, who is honoured at this point, was Alexander von Humboldt, the famous German scientist and humanist. He was born on 14th September 1769 in Berlin. As a co-founder of geography as an empiric science, he belongs to the most important figures in natural science. He undertook several expeditions to find out about the interrelation between environment and animal and plant life.However, he achieved extraordinary popularity by his views on nature and the cosmos. There was hardly any subject that he failed to explore; he did scientific field research in physics, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, vulcanology, botany (he founded the geography of plants), zoology, climatology, oceanography and astronomy.

Alexander of Humboldt’s Expeditions
In 1797 the poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller became his friends. His expedition to Latin America made him «America’s second – scientific – discoverer». From 1799 to 1804 Humboldt and the French doctor and botanist Aimé Bonpland travelled through South America. They explored Venezuela, Cuba, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and parts of the US. They covered 2000 km on the Orinoco in 75 days; they investigated the Amazon River, thereby proving that the two rivers were interconnected. In Ecuador Alexander von Humboldt almost reached the top of the vulcano Chimborazo. For some time he held the record of mountain climbing with the height at 5’800 m. On his trips he cataloguized more than 60’000 plants.

To Hand on Knowledge
After his trips Humboldt published his field studies, he lectured at the universities of Berlin, Paris and Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. He always strove to make the people understand his scientific findings; he is quoted as saying: «Knowledge brings forth thinking, thinking brings forth the seriousness and strength of the masses.» There are over 1’000 plants, animals, mountains, rivers and products bearing Humboldt’s name today.

Alexander von Humboldt died in Berlin on 6th May 1859.