Afternoon storm in Trau

Afternoon Storm in Trau by Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, dated around 1900 and held at the Déri Museum in Debrecen, depicts the Croatian coastal town of Trogir (known in German as Trau) during a dramatic atmospheric event. Csontváry traveled extensively in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and Trogir — with its Venetian architecture, Dalmatian coastal setting, and dramatic climate — attracted his interest in scenes where natural forces and human built environment confronted one another. The afternoon storm gives him a subject of sky-dominated dynamism quite different from the still, meditative quality of some of his other work.

Csontváry uses strong tonal contrasts to capture the drama of the approaching storm — the sudden darkening of sky over whitened architecture, the suppression of colour that accompanies storm light. His handling of the threatening sky is energetic, with vigorous strokes suggesting the movement of cloud and the sharpening of wind.