Skip to Content



Mathias Schmid (Austrian, 1835–1923)

In a Föhn Storm

Date: 1886
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Object Dimensions: 21 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (53.98 x 32.07 cm)
Credit Line: Founding Collection, Gift of Charles and Emma Frye, 1952.149
Photo Credit: Jueqian Fang
Verbal Description: The focus of this painting is a young girl, facing away from the viewer on a brown and gray jagged peak, wind sweeping her dress and hair. The ridgeline starts at the bottom right hand of the composition, moves across in a zigzag pattern, and ends midway up the left side of the painting. A baren tree trunk with just a few wisps of green on short branches is on the nearest peak, on the right side of the composition. Moving left, the next and highest peak is where the girl is perched precariously. She has white skin and appears to be bare-footed. She wears a dark-colored, voluminous dress with what looks to be a vermillion-colored petticoat that peaks out at the base of the dress. Underneath her denim apron dress, she wears a three-quarter length white shirt. The wind pushes her garments upward, almost to her shoulders and she uses her left arm to hold down the skirt. Her golden hair is in Heidi braids, wrapped up and around her head, except for a long strand blowing in the wind. A single green leaf flies up to the left corner of the composition. The sky is mostly cloudy, with splotches of blue and pink poking through. A warm golden glow is just barely seen from behind the mountain.

Collection List This object is a member of the following collections: