Oil on paper , laminated on cardboard. Signed lower right, with the initials scratched into the wet paint. 22 x 26.5 cm.

• A sophisticated, narrative composition set in a picturesque forest landscape.
• One of Spitzweg's lively pictorial worlds in which he shows his mastery in combining figures and spatial effects.
• (School) children in the forest were a popular subject for Spitzweg in the 1860s and 1870s.
• Successful participation in the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 and the First International Art Exhibition at the Munich Glaspalast in 1869 cemented his reputation as one of the leading German artists of the 19th century.
Accompanied by the documentation “Schulkinder im Walde” (Schoolchildren in the Forest) by Siegfried Wichmann, Starnberg, April 25, 1995, including a reprint of the certificate prepared by Adolf von Alt, March 30, 1939. We are grateful to Mr. Detlef Rosenberger, who examined the original work, for his kind support in cataloging his lot.
LITERATURE: Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg. Verzeichnis der Werke. Gemälde und Aquarelle, Stuttgart 2002, catalogue raisonné no. 896 (illustrated). Günther Roennefahrt, Carl Spitzweg. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Ölstudien und Aquarelle, Munich 1960, no. 485 (illustrated in b/w). - - Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg. Schoolchildren in the Forest, Documentation, Starnberg-Munich, R.f.v.u.a.K. 1994, Bayer. Staatsbibliothek Munich, inv. no. Ana 656 SW 61.