Gary Lee Kvamme

Chiemsee Gary Lee Kvamme

Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria, otherwise known as "Das Bayerische Meer" or "The Bavarian Sea", covers an area of 80 square kilometers and has a maximum depth of 74 meters. The name has a kernel of truth in it: not only does the lake have tides like the sea, it also originated from the primeval Thetis Sea which once covered almost half of Europe. It has three islands-Herreninsel, Fraueninsel and uninhabited Krautinsel. The lake's shores are flat on the north and south and flanked by undulating hills to the east and west. The waters are clear and well stocked with trout and carp. The Herreninsel, the seat of a bishopric from 1215 to 1805, has a Benedictine monastery (founded 764, dissolved 1803) and is the site of Schloss Herrenchiemsee, a Bavarian royal castle built by King Ludwig to surpass the palace at Versailles. A little Romanesque church affiliated to a former Benedictine convent (766-1803) is on the Fraueninsel. Utilizing the Kvamme process of digital enhancement, the present array of artistic depictions of Chiemsee with accompanying endnotes vividly explores my enduring fascination with various painters' portrayals of this Bavarian body of land and water.