Carl Spitzweg (1808 – 1885) was a German Romantic genre painter of the Biedermeier period. The Biedermeier period in art history refers to the depiction of everyday life through a sentimental and appreciative lens. Spitzweg originally studied to become a pharmacist, however, he became interested in painting while recovering from an illness. He was primarily self taught, and spent much of his time studying the Flemish masters. Spitzweg’s genre paintings were beautifully rendered, playful, and sometimes plainly humorous.

Carl Spitzweg’s paintings in chronological order:

The Poor Poet, 1837	The Butterfly Hunter, 1840	Sunday Stroll, 1841
Englishman in the Campagna, c.1845	Resting on the Vine, c.1845	The Sunday hunting, c.1845
Sleeping guards, 1848	A visit, c.1850	Once upon a time (the knitting outpost), c.1850
Rose scent memory, 1850	The fisherman, c.1850	Italian street singer, 1850
Praying peasant girl in the woods, c.1855	The portrait painter, 1855	The serenade, 1855
Tyrolean toll house, 1855	The Cactus Lover, c.1856	Women’s bath in Dieppe, c.1857
Ash Wednesday, 1860	Backstage, 1860	In the Synagogue, c.1860
Suspicious smoke, c.1860	The Alchemist, c.1860	The Flute Recital, 1860
The geologist, c.1860	The Intercepted Love Letter, c.1860	The knitting outpost, c.1860
Girl with goat, 1861	Walk With the Institute, c.1861	The Picnic, 1864
The Hypochondriac, 1865	The Sunday walk, c.1865	He comes, c.1870
Mountain Hike (Trip to Duke Stand), c.1870	The visit of the father, c.1870	Thunderstorm, c.1870
Bathing nymphs, c.1873	A hunter looking to a young girl, c.1875	The night watchman has fallen asleep, c.1875
Arrival in Seeshaupt, c.1880	Arts and Science, c.1880	The stagecoach, 1880
The Writer, c.1880	Washerwomen at the Well, c.1880	The stork, 1885
Eastern market	Harem	Swabian Girls at a Garden Fence
The Book Worm	The Botanist	The fisherman
The Musical Beggar	Turk in Enger Gasse	Washerwomen at the Well