Rye field in the Jura
1863
Frank Buchser, the Swiss artist behind this 1863 landscape, is actually famous for traveling to America during the Civil War to paint General Sherman. Here, he turns his eye back home to the Jura mountains, capturing a field of rye with energetic strokes that make it look like it's dancing in the wind. The dark, brooding mountains in the back and the tiny church spire in the valley are classic touches of Romanticism, emphasizing nature's power over human life.