Attersee

This signed painting is an early work. From 1828, the young artist accompanied his father, Jakob, on his painting trips, which in 1829 and 1830 took them to Upper Austria and the Salzkammergut. The idyllic setting of the villages and lakes among the mountain landscapes became one of Rudolf's favourite subjects. His sketches and watercolours show no spectacular motifs; his oil paintings echo the scenes captured during the summer months. The particular appeal of his views lies in inconspicuous, everyday scenes with a virtuosic interplay of light, colour and form.
Here the elevated standpoint faces the Höllen mountains. A shingle-roofed building restricts the view of the village of Attersee, so that only the roofs of the houses are visible, with the sunlit church-tower prominent.

Habersatter Thomas: Rudolf von Alt, Attersee. In: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hg./Ed.): Stadt - Land - Berg. Salzburg und seine Umgebung. Town - Landscape - Mountain. Salzburg and surroundings. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2022, p. 134, illus. p. 135