Hugo Mühlig attended the Dresden Academy of Art in 1871 and devoted himself entirely to landscape painting. In 1881, he moved to Düsseldorf, where the academy was particularly influential in terms of landscape painting, but in the meantime had also moved away from a sentimental, romanticized approach. However, Mühlig's time was probably shaped by the "Malkasten" group, an artists' association in which there was a lively exchange of views on changes in art. Together with his painter friend Adolf Lins, Mühlig undertook a number of hikes in the Lower Rhine region, where many of his motifs originated. Characterized by a powerful immediacy in his view of nature, his brushwork became increasingly relaxed and he used a bright, impressionistic palette. Characteristic of his depiction of the flat landscapes of the Lower Rhine is the way he looks into the distance. With spontaneous freshness, Mühlig dabs the floral splendor of the farm garden onto the canvas. Summer abundance and the luminosity of nature are captured in Mühlig's generous and lively painting style. [KT]