About the artist:

Josef Kugler was an Austrian painter best known for his lively romantic depictions of mountain peaks and forested landscapes. His work, which echoed the style of Hudson River School artists Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church, emphasized natural beauty of rural Austria. For example, in his painting Forest Scene, the artist paints a small creek flooded with light. Born in 1913 in Vienna, Austria, Kugler studied first at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After completing his education, he returned to Austria where he spent the majority of his career. During World War I, he served as an officer in the German Navy and after worked as a professor in Vienna. Kugler died on October 17, 2011 in Austria.