Kilograms of oil paint for the unadulterated beauty of the landscape

Christopher Lehmpfuhl heaves oil paint onto the canvas with his bare hands. This physically demanding act of painting results in astonishing finesse: plein air paintings that capture the weather, the light and the landscape in an unfiltered manner.
 

His hand is the brush. With sweeping, powerful strokes, Christopher Lehmpfuhl works with vast quantities of oil paint. At times, he practically slaps it onto the canvas—the man himself is covered in paint from head to toe. This process requires considerable physical exertion.

The result is almost a paradox. The energetic creative process culminates in a striking, palpable sensitivity: Christopher Lehmpfuhl's Plein Air painting testifies to his refined sense for the subtle, the hidden, the intimate within the landscape. The centimetre-thick layers of paint, sculpted into reliefs, capture the beauty of the surroundings with all their nuances of mood and, when viewed from the right distance, reproduce them authentically, even on smaller canvases.

Immediacy in the creative process, and the holistic experience of nature under the open sky is paramount for the German plein air painter: his perception of the location guides his hand. The 53-year-old artist intuitively incorporates the weather, the play of light, the biting cold or the shimmering heat into his paintings. And if snowflakes or raindrops mingle with the layers of paint, they become part of the whole.

The connection between water and the mountains
The internationally active Berlin-based artist is officially represented in Switzerland by the Urs Reichlin Gallery in Zug, and his “Counter-Views" exhibition is currently on display there. It's a collection of around 20 landscape paintings created in early September on and along Lake Lucerne during four intensive days of work.

Christopher Lehmpfuhl at the Urs Reichlin Gallery in Zug.
He loves the combination of water and mountains on Lake Lucerne
The artist works with various formats      Photos: Matthias Jurt
 

Christopher Lehmpfuhl has a great passion for the connection between water and mountains, and used buckets of paint for this latest project—from a specially provided motorboat, the decks of which were extensively covered with tarpaulins. The boat gradually moved from Lucerne towards Lake Uri, while the painter was guided by his keen eye for the perfect subject. Afterwards, he and the gallery owner selected suitable locations for another series of paintings on the scenic slopes on and above the lake.

One of these was the viewpoint at Axenstein above Morschach: one of the largest works for the current exhibition was created there. The magic of this place had already been discovered by the Swiss landscape painter Alexandre Calame (1810-1864). He called it "the most beautiful country in the world." A hidden memorial stone below the Axenstein commemorates these words. Now, some 170 years later, Christopher Lehmpfuhl stood here and felt similarly.

Response to "Land in Sight"
"Counter-Views" is a response to the series of works "Land in Sight," which was created on Lake Zug in 2021—also at the initiative of the Urs Reichlin Gallery. Now, four years later, Lehmpfuhl, at his own suggestion, has been drawn to the even more varied and structurally rich landscapes of Lake Lucerne. These new views from the heart of Switzerland are on display at the Zug gallery until the end of January—some in small format, the majority on large to wall-sized canvases.

A film presentation via projector, documenting Christopher Lehmpfuhl's unique painting style using his "Counter-Views" series as an example, can be viewed on:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOgG50wjH-k/?utm_source=ig_embed

The exhibition is complemented by several of Lehmpfuhl's vedute from the Engadine region.

Information:
"Counter-Views." New works by Christopher Lehmpfuhl can be seen at Galerie Urs Reichlin, Zug until 31st  January 2026.