This extensive late 19th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Axel Nordgren (1828-1888) depicts a breathtaking view across a waterfall towards a partially cloud-covered mountain in the Alps.A formidable onslaught of rushing water cascades over boulders - its enduring sound ringing in the ears. A clutch of mature fir trees seems timid in comparison as fallen forestry lay strewn in its wake. A majestic peak, partially obscured, rises like a behemoth - while a lone fisherman, swamped by nature, heads towards an alpine chalet. It’s the artist’s description of the ‘sublime’, his interpretation of the natural world through the looking glass of romanticism. He rarely painted on this scale but when he did, the results were electrifying.Nordgren studied at the academies of Stockholm and Düsseldorf, training under Hans Fredrik Gude and Andreas Achenbach. Here, we see the direct influence of Gude, one of Norway''s foremost romantic landscape painters. The elevated perspective reminds us...