In his landscapesand town views, Max Peiffer Watenphul does not only depict what he actually sees, instead, he delivers proof of his mastery in rendering his moods onto the canvas. Pictures characterized by a longing for Arcadia and the classic Italy come into being. "Just as Tucholsky said, there are landscapes you can be friends with, and there are those that are less inviting. I can be friends with the Italian landscape." (Max Peiffer Watenphul, in: Max Peiffer Watenphul, Gemälde-Aquarelle-Zeichnungen, ex. cat. Kunsthalle Darmstadt, 1972, p.16). The coarse burlap, onto which the artist painted without priming, soaks the paint up so that the surface becomes blunt like a fresco. Slight dabs simulate a process of aging that has not taken place yet. In doing so, the artist avoids any form of contrast that might disturb the harmony. Neither coloring nor composition goes to extremes. A romanticizing tune is the leitmotif of this painting.