From the 1910s onwards, Edward Cucuel’s work was defined by a cheerful, light-hearted outdoor painting style, which he initially pursued together with his friend and teacher Leo Putz in Hartmannsberg on Lake Chiemsee. During four summers, the painters worked side by side, capturing the scenery and their models in vibrant, harmonious colors and fluid brushwork. From 1914 Cucuel was based in Holzhausen on Lake Ammersee, where he continued to paint his earlier motif of young, elegantly dressed ladies in casual poses pursuing their leisure activities in the countryside. The world of beautiful, carefree young women in summer lake landscapes is one of Edward Cucuel’s most successful motifs. His paintings of the shores of Lake Starnberg manifest an attitude to life typical of a certain social class, which his painting style, inspired by Late Impressionism, skillfully exemplifies. The young ladies climbing into a boat in a small cove are engulfed in the colorful magic of the shimmering blue-green lake and the lush vegetation. Light reflections on their white dresses lend the scene an enchanted visual enrapture that is characteristic of many of Cucuel’s works from this period. [KT]