THE NIBELUNGEN BRIDGE IN LINZ

There is a bridge that links the past to the future. At one end where the bridge runs between houses and ends in an open space on the main square, there used to stand a post marking the zonal border between two of the powers that once occupied Austria and had shared the bridge. But even after they withdrew their forces, the bridge and its mighty pillars remained. They thrust themselves before the viewer’s eyes as they push away of the blue of the river, oscillating between light and dark and at some points even merging into a shimmering white, all of which makes the picture appear friendly. The milky light blue sky likewise lightens the composition Gazmend Freitag has created. However, the picture is centered on the gray-white railing curving to connect one bank of the river to the other. Welcoming the bridge to the other side is the bright green hue of trees covering the front of the gray building to the right of the picture. The building’s muted grays and browns and the pillars of the bridge merge together in Gazmend Freitag’s painting with the milky blue sky and the vigorously flowing Blue Danube into a harmonious whole. The bright white street lights hovering above the railings dynamically outline and underscore the curved lines of the arched bridge railings.