It is astonishing how early on the open-air oil sketch was discovered—and indeed developed—as a medium in Switzerland as well. The country’s geography itself played a significant role in this. After all, exploration of the Alps, which make up a large part of Switzerland, did not begin until the late 18th century. As a result of these discoveries, the peaks and mountain ranges became popular with the public, and Swiss tourism began to develop, which in turn led to the production of images.

One of the most spectacular projects of this period was the planned series of images titled "Merkwürdige Prospekte aus den Schweizer Gebürgen" (Remarkable Views of the Swiss Mountains) by publisher Abraham Wagner. He no longer wanted to limit himself—as was customary—to depicting Bern, Thun, and the Oberland, but also sought to portray the high mountains. This was both difficult and dangerous, but he eventually found Caspar Wolf, the painter who would bring this vision to life.

Wolf’s work was revolutionary in several respects. Not only did he travel to places that had never been painted before, but he also succeeded in transforming the mountains into works of art—something all his predecessors had more or less failed to do. In the context of early plein air painting, it is also particularly interesting to note how he approached the mountain landscape: namely, in oil. At the time, this was anything but common practice. His oil studies are thus among the earliest in Europe that we know of—and among the most beautiful.

The daring Wolf even went so far as to pack the paintings he created based on these studies onto his shoulders and haul them up into the mountains. There, he put the finishing touches on them—painting in and from nature at the highest level, literally.