(Munich 1808–1885)
Old Man on a Bench, rhombus signature lower right, circa 1865, oil on panel, 29 x 14.2 cm, framed (behind glass), (Rei)

Illustrated and catalogued in:
Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg, Verzeichnis der Werke, Gemälde und Aquarelle, published by Belser, Stuttgart, 2002, p. 291, no. 579
G. Roennefahrt, Carl Spitzweg, Beschreibendes Verzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Ölstudien und Aquarelle, Munich 1960, no. 971

Provenance:
Fischer, Lucerne, 21 - 25 June 1955, no. 2271, plate 26, titled “Alter Mann auf einer Ruhebank”,
German private property.

Carl Spitzweg was self-taught, giving up his studies of chemistry, botany and pharmacy and subsequent work as a pharmacist to finally turn to painting. He was greatly renowned for his humorous depictions of human nature. His friendship with Eduard Schleich, with whom he made many study trips to Italy, Germany, London and Paris, significantly influenced his artistic representations of landscapes decorated with rustic figures. Spitzweg had the ability to bring together an exact observation of nature, its phenomena’s and its play of light which enabled him to create a fascinating atmospheric in his works. Thanks to his pharmaceutical and chemical training, Spitzweg was able to mix his own paints and these had a special brilliance and durability, as is evident in the present work. Initially working in the style of the late Romantics, Spitzweg increasingly turned towards Impressionism, which also changed his method of applying colour. Glazed colours give way to pastose textures. In the work here Spitzweg chose an elevated point of view, depicting a plateau, where the old man sits on a bank. Although the viewer is not able to see the landscape behind the plateau, the endless breadth of the country is evoked by the man’s focused stare into the distance as well as the lower horizon line, freeing it from all constraints of time and space.