Lot 1145 | The Snow-Covered Volcano Popocatépetl in Mexico

LOHR, AUGUST
1843 Munich - ca. 1919 Berlin

Title: The Snow-Covered Volcano Popocatépetl in Mexico.
Technique: Watercolour on paper.
Mounting: Mounted.
Measurement: 35,5 x 52,5cm.
Notation: Signed and dated lower right: August Lohr, Mexico 1908.
Frame/Pedestal: Mat.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Bright flower bushes, lush green plants and trees as well as a snowy mountain top - August Lohr's watercolour depicts the diverse landscape of Mexico at a glance and takes the viewer on a journey to a faraway land, not without relinquishing references to his home continent. The Austrian-born artist studied at the Munich Academy of Arts under Carl Theodor von Piloty and concentrated on landscape painting from an early age. His preference was for Alpine scenes, which he captured in Bavaria, Switzerland and Austria and was equally able to transfer to his adopted home of Mexico. In the present painting, the bright colours of the Latin American vegetation contrast with the cold Alpine-looking mountain peak in the background.
In 1885 Lohr had crossed over to the United States and, together with William Wehner, founded the American Panorama Co. with its headquarters in Milwaukee. Before settling permanently in Mexico, he ran another panorama company with the German painter Wilhelm Heine from 1887 to 1900 and contributed to the iconic panorama painting "The Battle of Manila Bay" in San Francisco in 1898. His work is now represented in various American and European private collections.