Lot 4: A View of Lauterbrunnen with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau Mountains in the Distance

Joseph Nikolaus Bütler (German, 1822-1885)
A View of Lauterbrunnen with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau Mountains in the Distance
signed, inscribed and dated 'Joseph Bütler Düsseldorf 1865.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
54 x 74¼ in. (137.2 x 188.6 cm.)
Painted in 1865.

Property of a Private Collector, Texas


The Lauterbrunnen Valley, located in the Jungfrauregion, is the most impressive glaciated valley in the Alps and comprises one of the largest nature conservancies in Switzerland. Lauterbrunnen lies at the bottom of a hanging valley. The very name 'Lauter Brunnen' or 'loud fountain,' suggests the magnificence of this landscape. There are seventy-two waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, the most famous being the Staubbach Falls which can be seen in the present lot. Plunging almost 300 meters from an overhanging rock face, they are one of the highest free-falling waterfalls in Europe. In 1779, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited the valley and was inspired by the roaring waters to write his well-known poem Spirit Song over the Waters. The Lauterbrunnen valley also provided the pictorial model for J.R.R. Tolkien's sketches and watercolors of the fictitious valley of Rivendell.