Artwork
Snack Time
Snack Time is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Gustav August Hessl. It dates from 1900 and is held in the collection of the Belvedere.
About this work
Overview
‘Snack Time’ is an oil on canvas executed in 1900 by the Austrian painter Gustav August Hessl. The work measures a modest size and is part of the permanent collection of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it is displayed among other early‑20th‑century Austrian paintings.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a quiet domestic scene in which figures pause for a brief meal, capturing a moment of everyday leisure. Hessl’s focus on ordinary activity reflects a broader interest in the simple rituals of daily life that characterized much of his output at the turn of the century.
Technique & Style
Hessl employs the traditional oil medium with a restrained palette, allowing subtle gradations of light and shadow to model the figures and interior space. The brushwork is smooth and controlled, emphasizing form over decorative flourish, and aligns with the realist tendencies prevalent in Austrian painting at the time.
History & Provenance
Created at the height of Hessl’s career, ‘Snack Time’ entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s holdings through a mid‑20th‑century acquisition, though the exact path from the artist’s studio to the museum remains undocumented in public records. The museum’s catalogues list it as part of their early modern Austrian collection.
Context
The painting emerged during a period when Austrian artists were increasingly turning to genre scenes that documented contemporary life, moving away from historicist subjects. Hessl’s work fits within this shift, offering a quiet counterpoint to the more avant‑garde movements developing elsewhere in Europe at the same time.
Artist & collection
Afteninteriør. Moder og barn
Moder skal læse. Kunstnerens hustru og barn
Interior with the Artist's Wife and Child
Marie gets some food.
Marie får mad
Moder fortæller. Kunstnerens hustru og datter
Interior with the Artist's Wife and Child
In the Tub
At Grandmother's
At Grandmother's
Afteninteriør. Moder og barn
Moder skal læse. Kunstnerens hustru og barn