Tränenbrünneli, Hans Trudel (1919)

About this place

The theme of a group of crying children is not known in art history. The Baden artist Hans Trudel developed an independent depiction here, possibly as a result of experiences in Vienna during the First World War. The group is composed to striking dramatic effect: the four other children are arranged around a standing boy, kneeling or crouching, all tightly packed together. With the bowed head and the face resting in his hands, the standing figure breaks the upward movement. The group thus remains left to its grief. Soft, rounded bodily forms and lovingly worked details in the faces, hair and hands define the style.