A Water Idyll
A Water Idyll by Austrian Painter Hans Zatzka (1859 – 1945); also known as P. Ronsard, Pierre de Ronsard, or H. Zabateri and he signed many of his works as Joseph Bernard, J. Bernard, or Bernard Zatzka to avoid the penalties of braking contracts that limited how many works he could sell.
This is a beautiful fantasy forest scene of rich in vibrant color with and a dream like quality that shows in the background a small waterfall of beautiful blue hues, as the water flows into an inlet that has large boulders covered with many plants and flowers of blue, green, red and orange colors.
With in this inlet where the water flow has been greatly reduced by the boulders is a water nymph that is sitting on large water lilies feeding fish that are jumping out of the water.
She is wearing a sheer see through green gown, and around her legs is a dark green cloth. In her hair are violet flowers and she has a pearl arm bracelet on her left arm and a necklace of gemstones that hangs down to her bare breast.
In front of the water nymph to the left of the painting are two young ladies standing on a stone embankment with boulders, flowers and plants around them.
One young lady is a blond outfitted in a period costume consisting of a large light blue hat with a blue ribbon on the right side with a violet flower and light blue feathers on the top.
Her dress is a aqua in color is composed of multiple layers of a sheer material and is tied off just below her breast with a large ribbon that goes down to her thighs. In her right hand she appears to be holding a small collection of flowers, while in her left hand she is holding a glass jar; she is also wearing a metal bracelet on her right arm.
The other young lady is dressed in similar attire; but her clothing is gold colored and we are able to see her tan shoes and brown stockings as she lifts up her dress slightly with her left hand that has a double bracelet on her forearm; as she leans forward while holding a fishing pole in her right hand, ready to scoop up some fish.
This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a canvas print online.
Info Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Hans Zatzka sometimes been known as P. Ronsard, Pierre de Ronsard, or H. Zabateri, and signed many of his works as Joseph Bernard, J. Bernard, or Bernard Zatzka.
The purpose of Zatzka’s vast array of pseudonyms was to avoid penalties of breaking contracts which limited the amount of artwork he could sell.
This has caused some art databases to conflate Zatzka’s work under the pseudonym Joseph Bernard with the French sculptor with the same name.
Hans Zatzka was born on 8 March 1859 in Vienna. His father Bartholomaüs was a construction worker, and his mother was Marie Karpischek Zatzka.
Between 1877 and 1882, he studied at the Academie des Beaux-Arts, under Christian Griepenkerl, Carl Wurzinger, and Karl von Blaas.
Zatzka was able to earn a living through the production of frescoes for churches and other institutions.
In 1885, Zatzka was commissioned to create the ceiling fresco The Naiad of Baden at Kurhaus Baden.
Many of Zatzka’s works were religious paintings and altar pieces dedicated to various churches in Austria.
However, he is more known for his paintings of women, fairies, and other fantastical scenes.
Often, he would draw inspiration from the works of Richard Wagner and the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, several pieces by Zatzka were photographed and made into commercial and collectable postcards.
During the 1920s, Zatzka’s style became the decor of choice throughout Europe. In addition, the previous thirty years held a resurgence for Zatzka.
