Walter Moras

{{short description|German painter}}

File:Walter Moras - Verschneite Wassermühle.jpg

Walter Moras (Jan. 20, 1856 - March 6, 1925) was a German landscape painter who specialized to some extent in winter scenes.

Life

File:Walter Moras - Mondaufgang.jpeg

Moras was significantly influenced by the marine and landscape painter Hermann Eschke (1823-1900). In Berlin, where Moras was born, he gained his artistic training in Eschke's studio. In 1876, the young Moras staged his first exhibition, at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. Thereafter, Moras's works were continually shown, in small numbers, at major Berlin art exhibits. Moras also participated in exhibits in Bremen, Oldenburg and Munich.

At Eschke's recommendation, the young Moras painted scenes in Mecklenburg and on the large, craggy German island of Rügen. He also painted in Norway, the Netherlands and Italy. However, many of his works were created in rural Brandenburg and later in the Spreewald, both in the region of Berlin. He scarcely painted at all in Berlin itself, even though was described as a "Berlin painter" all his life.

File:Walter Moras - Märkisches Dorf.jpeg

Moras's style was realistic, influenced by a touch of melancholia, and generally simple and refined. Some of his evocative landscapes show Impressionistic influences. In later years he was known for large-format autumnal scenes illuminated by warm fall colors.

His numerous winter landscapes, which were composed with great attention to detail, similarly showed warmer hues amid the snowy context.

Moras was not a member of the Berlin Artists Association, nor did he become involved with any of the north German artists' colonies, though he sometimes painted in their neighborhoods.

In 1882 he married Ida Baluschek, the daughter of a Berlin railroad designer. Their son, Bruno, was born in 1883; Bruno Moras would also become a painter, but he was ever overshadowed by the reputation of his father.

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Selected paintings

{{center|Walter Moras}}

File:Walter Moras - Nächtliche Lübecker Stadtansicht.jpg|Lübeck by night

File:Walter Moras - Herbstliche Allee.jpg|Autumnal Lane

File:Walter Moras - Herbstlicher Wald mit Bachlauf.jpg|Forest Stream in Autumn

File:Walter Moras - Bachlauf im Winterwald.jpg|Stream in a Wintry Forest

File:Walter Moras - Winterliche Allee.jpg|Wintry Lane

File:Walter Moras - Ein sonniger Wintertag.jpg|Sunny Winter Day

File:Walter Moras - Herbstliche Waldlandschaft.gif|Autumnal Forest

File:Walter Moras - Motiv aus Lübben.jpg|Scene in Lübben

File:Walter Moras - Herbst am Waldbach.jpg|Forest Stream in Fall

File:Walter Moras - Herbsttag in Potsdam.jpg|Fall Day in Potsdam

File:Walter Moras - Jäger im Winterwald.jpg|Hunter in a Wintry Forest

File:Walter Moras - Rodeln an einem sonnigen Wintertag.jpg| Sledding on a Sunny Day

File:Walter Moras - Verschneiter Bachlauf.jpg|Snowy Stream

File:Walter Moras - Sägemühle an einem Fluß in Norwegen.jpg|Sawmill in Norway

File:Walter Moras - Im Spreewald.jpg|In the Spreewald

File:Walter Moras - Reißender Gebirgsbach.jpg|Raging Mountain Stream

File:Walter Moras - Fischerdorf in der Winterszeit.jpg|Fishing Village in Wintertime

File:Walter Moras - Verschneite Waldlandschaft (02).jpg|Snowy Forest Landscape

File:Walter Moras - Mondschein über holländischen Hafen.jpg|Moonlight in a Dutch Harbor

Further reading

  • Irmgard Wirth: Berliner Malerei im 19. Jahrhundert. Von der Zeit Friedrichs des Großen bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1990, S. 391–398, {{ISBN|3-88680-260-4}}.
  • Friedrich von Bötticher: Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte. Pantheon-Verlag, Leipzig 1941, S. 73.
  • Alfried Nehring: Walter Moras. Spuren eines Malerlebens; aus der Blütezeit der Freilichtmalerei. Klatschmohn Verlag, Bentwisch 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-941064-13-3}}.
  • Alfried Nehring: Hermann Eschke. Klippen und Küsten; ein Urgestein der Berliner Malerei im 19. Jahrhundert. Klatschmohn Verlag, Bentwisch 2012, S. 50–53, {{ISBN|978-3-941064-32-4}}.