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Carl Spitzweg

5th February 1808 – 23th September 1885

Carl Spitzweg was born on 5th of February in 1808 in Unterpfaffenhofen, Bavaria. Although trained as a chemist, he discovered quite early his talent for drawing and his affinity with art. Spitzweg travelled extensively during his lifetime and the impressions formed by his travels greatly influenced his work. Shortly after completing his studies in pharmaceutics in 1832, he visited Italy. It was particularly in the cities of Florence, Rome, and Naples that he discovered the many significant works of Western culture which were to leave a permanent imprint on him.

A severe case of dysentery in 1833 strengthened his resolve to abandon his career as a chemist and he proceeded to commit himself solely to his painting. In June 1835, he became a member of the Munich Art Association and travelled that same year to southern Tirol with the landscape painter Eduard Schleich, the Elder.

In 1839 he completed his first painting entitled ''The Poor Poet'. Although this recurring motif would later be considered his most well-known body of work, the painting was not accepted at this time by the jury of the Munich Art Association.

As regards his graphic production, the first publication in 1844 of his own illustrations in the Munich weekly paper 'Fliegende Blätter' is considered quite significant. His visits to the Industrial Exposition in Paris and the World's Fair exhibition in London in 1851 were his first contact with the Oriental scenes which would begin to inform his work.

To the deserving painter were bestowed numerous honours during the second half of Spitzweg's lifetime: in 1865 the Bavarian Royal Merit Order of St. Michael was conferred upon him, and in 1875 he was named an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Carl Spitzweg died on 23th of September in 1885 and was entombed in the historic South Cemetery in Munich.

He leaves behind a body of work dedicated to the townspeople who inhibit his genre scenes, and with acute and pointed, but never ill-natured humour he portrays the everday bourgeois life of his time.

Lit: Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg. Verzeichnis der Werke, Gemälde und Aquarelle, Stuttgart: Belser, 2002.

Carl Spitzweg

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3340
Winterauktionen 20.–21.11.2020
Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte
Author Gottlieb Tobias Wihelm.
Published by Engelbrechtsche Kunsthandlung, Augsburg 1794 - 1828. 27 Vols. Pflanzenreich first vol. 573 p., second vol. 558 p., third vol. 732 p., fourth vol. 764 p., fifth vol. 730 p., sixth vol. 740 p., seventh vol. 440 p., eighth vol. 512 p., ninth vol. 376 p., tenth vol. 748 p., Insekten first vol. 376 p., second vol. 424 p., third vol. 418 p., Mineralreich first vol. 786 p., second vol. 958 p., Fische first vol. 352 p., second vol. 416 p., Vögel first vol. 367 p., second vol. 384 p., Säugetiere first vol. 640 p., second vol. 667 p. (engravings V and VI missing), Amphibien 328 p., Würmer first vol. 404 p., second vol. 468 p., Mensch first vol. 516 p., second vol. 488 p. (engravings XI - XIV missing), third vol. 563 p. Each a frontispiece with engraving and in total 1560 hand-coloured engravings. Red edge. Half leather binding. Good condition. Book cover and spine slightly scuffed. Book block partially with slight foxing. Size 8vo.
The Protestant pastor Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm (1758 - 1811) did not himself investigate the wondrous phenomena of nature, but wrote down his extensive knowledge in the «Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte» in a vivid and sometimes entertaining way, which he had acquired through wide-ranging reading and the lively intellectual exchange with researchers and scientists. Through his father Christian Wilhelm, the owner of the Engelbrechtsche Buchhandlung in Augsburg, he was introduced at an early age to the possibilities and advantages of engravings as a medium for imparting knowledge. For his 27-volume opus magnum, which was correspondingly rich in images, he hired the skilled engravers Jacob Hübner and Christian Friedrich Freyer, who succeeded in transforming this encyclopaedia of nature, which was imbued with the spirit of Enlightenment, into an instructive aesthetic pleasure.
Provenance: private possession Munich.
Literature: VD18 1547254X-001; Nissen 4408; Nissen 2152; Pritzel 10272; Horn/Schenkling II 1337 (cf.).

deutsch Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte
Autor Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm.
Herausgegeben von der Engelbrechtschen Kunsthandlung, Augsburg 1794 - 1828. 27 Bde. Pflanzenreich erster Bd. 573 S., zweiter Bd. 558 S., dritter Bd. 732 S., vierter Bd. 764 S., fünfter Bd. 730 S., sechster Bd. 740 S., siebter Bd. 440 S., achter Bd. 512 S., neunter Bd. 376 S., zehnter Bd. 748 S., Insekten erster Bd. 376 S., zweiter Bd. 424 S., dritter Bd. 418 S., Mineralreich erster Bd. 786 S., zweiter Bd. 958 S., Fische erster Bd. 352 S., zweiter Bd. 416 S., Vögel erster Bd. 367 S., zweiter Bd. 384 S., Säugetiere erster Band 640 S., zweiter Bd. 667 S. (Kupferstiche V und VI fehlen), Amphibien 328 S., Würmer erster Bd. 404 S., zweiter Bd. 468 S., Mensch erster Bd. 516 S., zweiter Bd. 488 S. (Kupferstiche XI - XIV fehlen), dritter Bd. 563 S. Mit je einem Titelkupfer und insgesamt 1560 handkolorierten Kupferstichen. Roter Schnitt. Halbledereinband. Guter Zustand. Buchdeckel und Buchrücken leicht best. Buchblock partiell leicht stockfleckig. Kl. 8°.
Der protestantische Pfarrer Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm (1758 - 1811) untersuchte nicht selbst die wundersamen Phänomene der Natur, sondern schrieb in den «Unterhaltungen aus der Naturgeschichte» auf anschauliche und teils unterhaltsame Weise sein ausgedehntes Wissen nieder, das er sich durch breitgefächerte Lektüre und den regen intellektuellen Austausch mit Forschern und Wissenschaftlern erworben hatte. Durch seinen Vater Christian Wilhelm, den Inhaber der Engelbrechtschen Buchhandlung in Augsburg, wurde er schon früh an die Möglichkeiten und Vorzüge des Kupferstichs als Medium der Wissensvermittlung herangeführt. Für sein 27-bändiges Opus magnum, das entsprechend bildgewaltig ausfiel, engagierte er die versierten Kupferstecher Jacob Hübner und Christian Friedrich Freyer, denen es gelang, die vom Geist der Aufklärung durchdrungene Naturenzyklopädie in einen lehrreichen ästhetischen Genuss zu steigern.
Provenienz: Privatbesitz München.
Literatur: VD18 1547254X-001; Nissen 4408; Nissen 2152; Pritzel 10272; Horn/Schenkling II 1337 (vgl.).

hammer price: 2800,- EUR
(starting price: 2600,- EUR)