Karl Heffner (1849-1925) was born in Würzburg where he first studied music. He was a pupil of Adolf Stademann (1824-1895) and Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826-1882) in Munich. He travelled extensively in Germany, England, Italy and Holland, exhibited in Vienna and Munich between 1873 and 1883, and in the Royal Academy in London between 1880 and 1881.
Heffner was one of the greatest exponents of the Munich School of Paintings led by A. Stademan and A. G. Lier who were his masters. This painting depicts a winter scene with a river, probably to be identified as the Isar river in Munich a small figure fishing in the foreground. Following the Realist technique, this work was probably executed directly after the motif in open air. It is a fine example of Heffner's early manner.
