Carl Spitzweg - Saturday Afternoon (The Village Parson's Morning Walk) - image-1

Lot 2538 Dα

Carl Spitzweg - Saturday Afternoon (The Village Parson's Morning Walk)

Auction 1153 - overview Cologne
30.05.2020, 14:00 - Art of the 19th Century
Estimate: 50.000 € - 60.000 €
Result: 125.000 € (incl. premium)

Carl Spitzweg

Saturday Afternoon (The Village Parson's Morning Walk)

Oil on panel. 21 x 29 cm.
Monogrammed lower left: S in a rhombus.

The motif of figures strolling in a landscape is among the most important and frequently occurring in Spitzweg's œuvre. Whilst his earlier works tend to depict single figures, his later works feature primarily groups, and the landscape is afforded greater significance. The present work, to be dated around 1865-70, shows a single figure - according to the title a village priest - strolling, accompanied only by his dog. The question as to whether the artist, who remained single throughout his life, imbued these lone figures with autobiographical elements must remain unanswered. His works often feature figures walking away from the viewer and into the landscape, a motif ultimately derived from Caspar David Friedrich's figures seen from the back.
He renders the brightly illuminated landscape in loose brushstrokes in a palette dominated by finely nuanced green tones, which form a pleasant contrast to the pale blue of the lightly clouded sky in the upper left corner. Spitzweg prepared his landscape compositions by creating numerous studies from nature. He kept these sketches his whole life and often went back to them. The original studies for this landscape, the figure of the village priest, and the path can be found in a sketchbook from 1864. Spitzweg also used this same landscape motif just a few years later in the similar work “Going to Church in Ampertal”, which is currently housed in the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Provenance

Dr Balthasar Unterholzner (1834-1907), Vienna (label on the reverse of the panel and the frame). – 1908 Prince of Liechtenstein, inv. nor. 2132. – 1953 sold to art dealership Alexander Gebhardt, Munich. - Georg Schäfer Collection, Schweinfurt (collection label on the reverse of the panell). – South German private collection

Literature

- Hermann Uhde-Bernays: Carls Spitzweg. Des Meisters Leben und Werk, Munich 5th ed. 1919, illus. 18. - Fritz von Ostini: Aus Carl Spitzwegs Welt. 100 seiner schönsten Bilder mit Portrait und Biographie des Malers, Barmen 1924, p. 5. - Alois Elsen: Carl Spitzweg, Vienna 1948, p. 124, pl. 51. - Wilhelm Spitzweg: Der unbekannte Spitzweg, Munich 1958, illus. before p. 65. - Günther Roennefahrt: Carl Spitzweg. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Ölstudien und Aquarelle, Munich 1960, p. 279, no. 1280, illus. p. 115. - Siegfried Wichmann: Exhib. cat. “Carl Spitzweg und sein Freundeskreis”, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 07.10.1967-07.01.1968, p. 46, no. 85, illus. 42. - Konrad Kaiser: Exhib. cat. “Münchner Malerei von Kobell bis Spitzweg. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus der Sammlung Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt”, Erlangen, Rathaus, 12.-16.10.1969, p. 30-32, p. 50, no. 78. - Siegfried Wichmann: Carl Spitzweg 1808-1885. Die Chronologie der Signaturen im Werk von Carl Spitzweg. Frühzeit, Reifezeit, Spätzeit. Die Fälscher und ihre Methoden, Sindelfingen 1976, p. 45. - Siegfried Wichmann: Exhib. cat.: “Carl Spitzweg und die französischen Zeichner Daumier, Grandville, Gavarni, Doré”, Munich, Haus der Kunst, 23.11.1985-02.02.1986, p. 489-90, no. 633.
- Siegfried Wichmann: Carl Spitzweg. Kunst, Kosten und Konflikte, Frankfurt & Berlin, 1991, p. 337, no. 328.
- Siegfried Wichmann: Carl Spitzweg. Verzeichnis der Werke. Gemälde und Aquarelle, Stuttgart 2002, p. 452, no. 1152.

Exhibitions

- Wiener Biedermeier-Maler und Carl Spitzweg aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein Luzern, Kunstmuseum, 27.05.-02.10.1950, no. 370. - Deutsche Malerei. Ausgewählte Meister seit Caspar David Friedrich, Wolfsburg, Volkswagenwerk, 15.04.-13.05.1956, no. 176 (with exhibition label on the back of the panel). - Carl Spitzweg. Zur 150. Wiederkehr seines Geburtstages am 5. Februar 1958, Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 05.02-5.10.1958, no. 50. - Carl Spitzweg und sein Freundeskreis, Munich, Haus der Kunst, 07.10.1967-07.01.1968, no. 85. - Münchner Malerei von Kobell bis Spitzweg. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus der Sammlung Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt, Erlangen, Rathaus, 12.-16.10.1969, no. 78. - German Painting of the 19th Century, New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, 15.10.-22.11.1971, Cleveland, Museum of Art, 09.12.1970-24.01.1971, Chicago, Art Institute, 27.02.-28.03.1971, no. 89 (with exhibition label on the back of the frame and label of the transport company Hasenkamp on the panel). - Carl Spitzweg und sein Münchner Malerkreis. Gemälde aus der Sammlung Georg Schäfer, Kiel, Kunsthalle, 07.05.-23.07.1972, Münster, Westfälischer Kunstverein, 05.08.-10.09.1972, Bielefeld, Kunsthalle und Kulturhistorisches Museum 24.09.-19.11.1972, no. 30. - Carl Spitzweg. Gemälde aus der Sammlung Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt, Halle des Alten Rathauses, 07.09.-17.10.1976, Augsburg, Städt. Kunstsammlungen, Holbein-Haus, 11.12.1976-30.01.1977, Lübeck, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, St. Annenmuseum, 06.03.-11.04.1977, Würzburg, Mainfränkisches Museum, 19.05.-03.07.1977, no. 30. - Carl Spitzweg und die französischen Zeichner Daumier, Grandville, Gavarni, Doré, München, Haus der Kunst, 23.11.1985-02.02.1986, no. 633 (with exhibition label on the back of the panel).