Carl Spitzweg - photo 1
Carl Spitzweg - photo 2
Carl Spitzweg - photo 3
Carl Spitzweg - photo 4

Carl Spitzweg

Sold
€ 46 200
Auction dateClassic
17.11.2022 10:00UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
VAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
Event location
Germany, Köln
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 842580
Lot 749 | Carl Spitzweg
SPITZWEG, CARLMunich 1808 - 1885

Title: The Schoolchildren's Way Home.
Date: Ca. 1870-75.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 53,5 x 31,5cm.
Lower right signed with the letter S in a rhombus.
Literature:
S. Wichmann: Carl Spitzweg. Verzeichnis der Werke, Stuttgart 2002, p. 385, cat. rais. no. 906;
S. Wichmann: Spitzweg. Kunst, Kosten und Konflikte, Frankfurt/Berlin 1991, pp. 232-257.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Carl Spitzweg is considered the German painter and illustrator of the late Romantic and Biedermeier periods par excellence. His artistic talent was evident from an early age, as his first drawing from 1823 confirms. However, it took a long time for the young Carl to resist his father's wish to become a pharmacist. Obediently, he completed his studies in pharmacy and graduated with honours. While working in the "Löwenapotheke" in the town of Straubing, he shared a flat with actors from the theatre and painters, who brought him into contact with art. It was not until 1833 that he changed professions and became a member of the Munich Art Association in 1835. Spitzweg never attended an academy and was self-taught.
His oeuvre extends far beyond 1500 paintings and drawings. Spitzweg's style is as unmistakable as it is distinctive: it resembles a cross between elements of Biedermeier and late Romanticism. A characteristic feature is a loose and airy style of painting, which is interwoven with graphic elements.
In his paintings, as in the present one, he combines these two disciplines of art history, which have always been in competition with each other: the so-called "disegno" and "colore" - colour and drawing. In a small format, he shows us the Biedermeier lower bourgeoisie, the schoolchildren depicted here, on their way home. Surrounded by the untouched green of a gigantic forest, Spitzweg gives the painting its romantic, poetic character, which is so characteristic of him. The focus of the painting is clearly the power of nature, which nevertheless appears delicate and gentle. The adventurous and unfathomable paths of the forest dominate the depiction and envelop the painting in a pure idyll. The composition of the radiant and bright blue sky is striking. Gently, the indentation guides the eye in soft arcs through the painting until it finally arrives at the returning children. The present work is a prime example of the extremely fine sense of colour and nature that Spitzweg possessed like no other. The interplay of different moments, stylistics and technique transforms the depiction into a moment full of fairytale-like quality, romance and beauty.
In the present painting, the artist's monogram acts like a hieroglyph, following the various stages of the artist's life: It allows us - the viewers - to date the painting retrospectively. Siegfried Wichmann studied Spitzweg's monograms and signatures in detail and divided them into three phases. On the basis of this classification, the painting can be dated to the "late period", which lasted from 1860 to 1885.
Artist:Carl Spitzweg (1808 - 1885)
Applied technique:Oil
Auction house category:Paintings 19th Century
Address of auction VAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
Hitzelerstr. 2
50968 Köln
Germany
Preview
11.11.2022 – 14.11.2022
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Fax +49 221 92 58 62 4
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