Cairn at the edge

This Artwork’s Story

This image captures the “Schöberl” in the Dachstein Massif at sunrise, unfolding an almost mythical presence in a fine art context.

At the center rises the sharply defined rock pinnacle of the Schöberl, standing like a primeval monolith above a sea of clouds. The rising sun bathes the scene in a warm, golden glow, softly shaping the contours of the mountainscape while simultaneously emphasizing the raw austerity of the stone.

In the foreground, a cairn — a human-made marker in the barren rocky expanse — is crowned by a ski embedded into the ground. This subtle detail creates a quiet tension between nature and culture, between eternity and transience.

The composition lives from the horizon line separating the ocean of clouds from the rugged formations, and from the interplay of warm light with the cool, gray stone. The atmosphere is at once contemplative and monumental: a moment of stillness, caught at the threshold between night and day, between sublimity and intimacy.