welovepaintings:

Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885)
The Poor Poet
Oil on canvas
1837
Private collection

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Spitzweg depicts a writer living out the familiar image of the starving artist in wretched conditions in a small room in an attic. The painting contains many significant images. The Poor Poet, with his rimmed glasses, top hat, walking stick, umbrella, and cravat has become a symbol for an era – the Biedermeier period (1815-1848) which centered on the private life and is marked by the growing urbanization and industrialization leading to a rising middle class. This new audience wanted to experience a more simple and realistic art than that of the then-popular but rather fussy Romantic style.

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