Hans Thomas paintings fascinate in their own way, because they are so outside of tradition due to their very own motifs and painting style and speak their own language that seems to exist outside of the ordinary. They always seem to have a mysterious, timeless content that is typical of all of Thoma's motifs, be it in his mythological or fairytale stories or in the large and vast landscapes. Thoma began his artistic career in Basel and Düsseldorf, followed by a stay in Paris in 1868, where he was particularly impressed by the realistic works of the Barbizon school, which were created in deep connection with nature. A trip to Italy followed via Munich in the 1870s, before finally settled in Frankfurt. Here in the Taunus mountain, but also during several stays in his home region of the Black Forest, he developed his characteristic approach to the landscape, characterized by the unique simultaneity of the sublime and the idyllic. Here the view is raised above the human sphere with the small family in front of their farm over a lovely alpine landscape, where the white mountain massif rises with a single cloud floating in front of it behind dark and protective fir trees. Thoma was fascinated by Switzerland with its imposing peaks, and several trips took him to St. Moritz, Lucerne, Lake Lucerne and the Valais Alps, up into old age. Individual mountains such as the Rigi, the Pilatus, the Blümlisalp and the Lauterbrunner Valley awaken in him, as it were, spiritual "Zarathustran feelings" (Hans Thoma, Im Winter des Lebens, Jena 1919, p. 120). Thomas's paintings always exude a certain surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, oscillating on the fine line between reality and vision. [KT]