The traces of the scalpel! A year after his phenomenal painting exhibition at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg in 2009, and following the opening of an exhibition of his monotypes at the Albertina in Vienna, Herbert Brandl had to undergo emergency surgery due to an acute aneurysm at the end of 2010. "The traces of the scalpels on the body were soon followed by the weapons themselves, preserved in display cases and cabinets, as aesthetically and culturally significant material; and as sources of inspiration for his subsequent paintings," writes Florian Steininger in his contribution to this book. So nothing remained the same, although Herbert Brandl continues to uniquely blend mountain and landscape panoramas, breathtaking close-ups and distant views. For after the carnage on his own body, the mountains became bloodier, "the snow-white fields and slopes.".