Landscape in Scotland - Findhorn River
- Artist: Oskar Kokoschka
- Date: 1929
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "Landscape in Scotland - Findhorn River" by Oskar Kokoschka. Painted in 1929, oil on canvas, this work captures the first time Kokoschka walked the banks of the Findhorn and Divie rivers. He had lodged in a highland farmhouse for a week, and the view at that junction, just a stone's throw from the future site of the Moray flood memorial, inspired this dramatic scene. The artist notes in his notes that a postcard from Dulsie Bridge described the stormy weather and wild setting that he saw. The composition itself feels turbulent, with the rushing water and a sky heavy with cloud, echoing the 19th‑century floods that the stone commemorates. He returned to Scotland during World War II for further landscapes, but this 1929 canvas remains a vivid snapshot of a place where nature and history collide. The brushwork is vigorous, almost kinetic, as if the river itself is being painted by the painter. It's a striking example of Kokoschka’s early work outside Austria, blending his expressive style with the raw Scottish landscape.
See it in person
Landscape in Scotland - Findhorn River hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
