Hoeschstahlwerk, Dortmund, Mittagspause

Huge plumes of steam and smoke tower above a bleak factory site. Cooling towers and chimneys loom threateningly in the sky, while bluish-violet light reflections lend them a magical aura. It is hard to distinguish between clouds and smoke, and the time of day—around noon, according to the title—can hardly be discerned amid all the industrial fumes. Bracht painted this quadratic industrial landscape on a trip to Dortmund. Originally part of a triptych with the title »Pictures from the German Iron Industry«, he later sold the painting individually. His work focuses on the dramatically lit smoke formations, which occupy almost two-thirds of the picture, not the workers spending their lunch break outside the steelworks. Bracht, whose landscape painting was very popular, began to distance himself from a realistic painting style in the 1890s, responding to Impressionist impulses, with color and light becoming his main compositional tools. He is fascinated by the continually shifting plumes of smoke in the light and the industrial atmosphere. Bracht developed a vigorous brushwork and was one of the earliest representatives of German Impressionism.