Die Erwartete,

Genre painting formed the focal point of Waldmüller’s later work. He preferred rural life to bourgeois life, and within that, he favoured moments full of the warmth of life rather than scenes of labour. The painting ‘Erwartet’ (Waiting), also known as ‘Sonntagmorgen’ (Sunday Morning), brings together all the artistic elements of the painter’s final years. On a summer's day, a boy holding roses waits for his beloved in the shade of the woods. The girl approaches from lush, undulating fields at the secluded edge of the woods. Both are wearing their Sunday best. While the boy looks at her hopefully, the girl, her face aglow, gazes thoughtfully at her hymn book. The composition is accordingly structured around the opening of the woods and the view of the landscape. The viewer bears witness to this scene, full of anticipation. Will the girl return his feelings?
The closely related painting ‘The Encounter’, created in 1860, continues the story. It depicts a couple embracing tenderly on the edge of a forest. The Munich painting was also created around 1860. Through this idyll, Waldmüller found his final expression of genre painting. The number of figures is reduced and they blend into the wider landscape. The colour scheme also takes on its final form. Here, it is entirely attuned to capturing the light-filled atmosphere of the forest clearing.
Genre painting was already particularly popular in early Biedermeier Viennese art. However, for the versatile Waldmüller, it only came to take on central importance towards the end of his career. Here, his artistic vision, characterised by a realistic understanding of nature, found its ultimate expression. In his scenes depicting the unadulterated lives of country folk, his vision of harmonious unity between humanity and nature seems realised. Nevertheless, Waldmüller’s genre paintings were losing favour with the public at that time. After criticising the academic teaching system, he lost his professorship in 1850 and lived a secluded life in Vienna. Nevertheless, he remained steadfast in his artistic endeavours until old age, becoming the greatest nature painter in 19th-century Austrian art.