page_title: Avgust Berthold
section_title: Berthold's works
hierarchical_section_title: Avgust Berthold / Berthold's works
caption_attribution_description: Slovenščina: Sejalec
context_page_description: Avgust Berthold was a Slovenian photographer who is associated with the Impressionist movement.
context_section_description: Beside Berthold's photographs of the famous people from that period (Ivan Cankar, Alojz Gradnik, Rihard Jakopič, Fran Levec, Pavel Golia) Berthold also did art photography and was the first Slovenian art photographer. Today we consider him among the impressionistic photographers. His nickname is the fifth Slovenian impressionist.
  Berthold's photographic heritage could be divided between :
  landscape photography (intimate landscape - intimate passage, seasides, mountains)
  genre photography (farming life, children life - games)
  portrait photography (family portraits, personal - creative portraits, public - documentary portraits)
  documentary photography
  Berthold's best works are landscape and genre photography, he got the most rewards on exhibitions for these, the nicest have also represented his pictorialistic - painting way in his photography, which at the time was the most modern.
  Motives for landscape photography Berthold sought in trees, woods, swamps, rivers, paths, nature in various year cycles and day cycles, mostly at dusk or dawn, when the exchange of the light is the most visible. He was avoiding mid-day time, when the sun shines vertically. His nicest motive were birches, between the years 1905 until 1907 he made a cycle of landscape photographies with birches, which were made in gum bichromate procedure, this was his favourite procedure which allowed him the most experimenting and acquired him an award in Oslo in 1908.
  Berthold liked to photograph farmers when they were working. Farmer who was bent down to reach the earth in his specific gestures, showed the type of a person connected with the past and time, when people were still more connected with the nature, when they were fully dependent on it. Berthold had numerous occasions to watch the farmers at their day work in the surrounding area of Škofja Loka, where he walked around the paths, hills and villages. His most famous work is the photography of The sewer, which was made in 1906 at the area around Škofja Loka, somewhere between the villages Pungert and Gosteče. Photography probably wasn't made randomly between hiking, most probably it is a selectively defined composition. The figure, position and moves of the farmer are organised and the whole composition is lighting balanced. A year after the photography was made, the painting of Ivan Grohar - The sower was made, which differs from the original only by the hayrack, which instead of the hill is painted a bit blurred in the background. Most probably Ivan Grohar was looking at Berthold's photograph, which was the usual practice of Slovenian impressionist painters at that time. The motive is also engraved on the 5 cent Euro coin in current times, which was designed by Miljenko Licul.
  Important part of Berthold's works is also his portrait photography. Because he realised that he is more successful in the landscape photography, he mostly did portrait photography among his family members for fun and pleasure. He liked to photograph his wife Helena and daughter Ema and himself. His 3/4 portrait and profile of his wife have set a sensitive and gentle relationship. In these photographs he showed the character of his wife and her feelings. Looks are introspective, sensitive, full of love, happiness and youth. Precious are also portraits of his colleagues Ivan Tavčar, Ivan Cankar, Oton Župančič, Anton Aškerc, Ivan Grohar and Rihard Jakopič.
caption: The Sower by Avgust Berthold
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