Charles-Henri Contencin

Exhibition: Contencin’s snowbound vision of the Wetterhorn is without doubt one of his most successful compositions. He chose his viewpoint from just below First, high up on the south side of the Grindelwald valley and, to its right, it still provides one of the great panoramas of the Alps, namely: the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau triumvirate.

Cut off from the valley by a heavy fog, the tiered and soaring Wetterhorn seems to be even more dominant. With a thorough understanding of his palette, in this instance, Contencin animated the fog with flashes of magenta and umber to prevent it becoming too leaden and his sky too boasts areas of yellow ochre and silver to offset the mass of snow and rock. Despite the cold atmosphere, such use of colour means that his paintings never become too hard nor unconvincing.