Alfons Walde's view of the Kitzbühel and Tyrolean winter landscape and winter sports are of great importance. Later discovered, but now just as recognized, Waldes are grandiose nudes and still lifes. His early work, influenced by the Viennese Secession art, Gustav Klimt and especially Egon Schiele, should not be overlooked either.
Walde was born in Oberndorf in 1891. From 1910 to 1914 he studied at the Technical University in Vienna. During this time he met Albin Egger-Lienz, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. In 1913 Walde exhibited for the first time in the Vienna Secession. From 1914 to 1918 he did military service as an officer of the Tyrolean Kaiserschützen.
In the mid-1920s Walde developed his typical painting style and theme. His inclination towards expressionist statements in the early 1920s was followed by the realization of his own pictorial concept in tectonically constructed landscapes, depictions of milieus, nude modelling and flower still lifes. Walde elevated snow and winter sports motifs to an intensity and topicality hardly reached by other artists. Poster designs and architectural works complement his diverse artistic oeuvre. In 1925 he was awarded the Julius Reichel-Artist Prize of the Vienna Academy, and in 1955 he was awarded the title of professor. Walde died in Kitzbühel in 1958.
