Carl Spitzweg - Der Hagestolz (The Bachelor) - image-1

Lot 14 Dα

Carl Spitzweg - Der Hagestolz (The Bachelor)

Auction 1262 - overview Berlin
26.10.2024, 11:00 - Romanticism and Realism. Vedutas, Landscapes and Genre Paintings from a Private Collection
Estimate: 50.000 € - 70.000 €
Bid

Carl Spitzweg

Der Hagestolz (The Bachelor)
1847 1849

Oil on panel. 38 x 46 cm.
Inscribed verso in black brush: In. 1311, below in red chalk: I N. 1311 / M.d.b.K, below in blue chalk (barely legible): [...] 1311.

Alongside bookworms, hermits, soldiers and poets, one of the many “eccentrics” depicted in Spitzweg's oeuvre included the figure of Hagestolz – the inveterate, somewhat grumpy bachelor. The German term “hagestolz”, which is somewhat outdated today, originates from Middle High German and is derived etymologically from the older term ‘hagestalt’, which referred to the owner of an enclosed ancillary property, the small size of which did not allow for the founding of a household.

Spitzweg prepared his Hagestolz composition in numerous preparatory drawings and studies that all display a specific arrangement: Spitzweg described the straight line in the distance as ‘An important horizontal’. In contrast, the figure of the Hagestolz protrudes vertically into the space, so that the composition is determined by one horizontal and one vertical line.

This image depicts a tall, slender man seen from behind. His sharply contoured, stiff posture and elegant clothing consisting of a black frock coat and top hat sets him apart from the other people. Only a hint of a black moustache is visible on his face. The figure holds a thick manuscript or book behind his back and under his right arm, suggesting that the proud Hagestolz has dedicated his life to the study of literature.

This outward appearance seems to express a conservative attitude and isolation from the rest of the world. We can only speculate as to whether the secluded bachelor felt confirmed in his independence or whether he observed couples and families with melancholy. Carl Spitzweg himself never married - perhaps he would have liked to.

Until 1938, the painting belonged to the collection of the Jewish publishing director Dr Henri Hinrichsen (1868-1942). Through his social commitment and patronage alongside his work as a music publisher (Edition Peters), Hinrichsen earned himself lasting renown as a respected citizen of Leipzig. However, he did not survive the racial fanaticism of the National Socialists and was murdered in Auschwitz on 17 September 1942. The painting was removed from the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig as early as 1939, and has been managed under the Martha and Henri Hinrichsen Foundation, Chicago, since 1946. It was restituted to the heirs of Dr Henri Hinrichsen by the City of Leipzig in 2003.

Catalogue Raisonné

Wichmann, 458.

Certificate

According to the catalogue raisonné, there is a confirmation of authenticity by Spitzweg's nephew, Major Karl Loreck, Munich, 15 July 1813.

Provenance

Collection of Director Robert Zahn (1861-1914), Plauen. - Hugo Helbing, Munich, auction Director
R. Zahn + Collections, Plauen, 21 November 1917, lot 20 (as ‘Der Gutsherr [Hagestolz]’). - Dr Binswanger (acquired at the aforementioned auction for 17,000 RM). - Collection of Dr Henri Hinrichsen (1868-1942), Leipzig, 1935-1939. - Confiscation and transfer of the art collection of Dr Henri Hinrichsen to the Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, 16.11.1939, inventoried on 9.1.1940 (inv. no. G 1311). - Donated by his son Walter Hinrichsen to the Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, 31 May 1946. - Since 1946 as the Henri and Martha Hinrichsen Foundation, Chicago, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig. - Restituted to the heirs of Dr Henri Hinrichsen, 2002. - Sotheby's, London, auction 15.06.2004, lot 32. - European private collection (acquired in post-auction sale).

Literature

A. Elsen: Carl Spitzweg, Vienna 1948, no. 41 (1st version, c. 1868), p. 120 (mentioned), colour illus. - G. Roennefahrt: Carl Spitzweg. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Ölstudien und Aquarelle, Munich 1960, no. 913, ill. p. 234 - H. Weiss: Carl Spitzweg, Vienna/Munich 1972, pl. 75. - D. Sander: Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig. Cat. of paintings, 1995, no. 1311, p. 185, fig. 650, p. 395. - L. Schirmer: Carl Spitzweg, Augsburg 1996, ill. 35. - E. Braun: Rückgabeverfahren des Museums der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Beiträge öffentlicher Einrichtungen der BRD zum Umgang mit Kulturgut aus ehem. jüdischem Besitz, ed. by U. Höder, Magdeburg 2001, ill. p. 202, pp. 211-218. - S. Wichmann: Carl Spitzweg. Catalogue raisonné of the works. Gemälde und Aquarelle, Stuttgart 2002, no. 458, ill. p. 251.

Exhibitions

Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste, Hundert Jahre deutsche Malerei, May 1947.