Creativum

Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, mainly genre subjects. He is considered one of the most influential artists of the Biedermeier era.

Spitzweg was born in Unterpfaffenhofen, near Munich, Bavaria, the second of Franziska’s three sons (née Schmutzer) and Simon Spitzweg. His father, a wealthy merchant, had Carl trained as a pharmacist. He attained his qualification from the University of Munich but took up painting while recovering from an illness.

Spitzweg was self-taught as an artist, starting by copying the works of Flemish masters. He contributed his first work to satirical magazines. Upon receiving an inheritance in 1833, he dedicated himself to painting. Later, Spitzweg visited European art centers in Prague, Venice, Paris, London, and Belgium studying various artists’ works and refining his technique and style. His later paintings and drawings are often humorous genre works. Many of his paintings depict sharply characterized eccentrics, for example, The Bookworm (1850) and The Hypochondriac (c. 1865).