Seefeld in Tirol

Max Pollak

This image is one of a series of images Pollak did of winter in the Czech and Austrian Alps around 1920. To print this composition he collaged a sheet of thin white laid paper, that would capture the delicate aquatinted lines, to a support sheet of cream wove that provided contrast to the composition and also allowed the print to be handled.p/>

Most of Pollak's work from this period was in black drypoint, with little color. This experiment in subtle color depicts the Tirolian mountains in winter. The snow in the foreground is white, the color created by the thin Asian paper, it swirls up the craggy mountain. Pollak used an aquatint plate, hand colored to reveal slight green in the middleground. The Alpine mountain and trees are seen as a neutral tan color while the sky is a silvery blue.p/>

Seefeld in Tirol is an old farming village, now a major tourist resort, in Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol with a local population of 3,312. The municipality, which has been the venue for several Winter Olympics Games, is the home village of Anton Seelos, the inventor of the parallel turn in skiing.