''The Geologist'' is an glue paint on paper on canvas painting by the German painter
Carl Spitzweg executed ''c.'' 1860. It belongs to the collection of the
Von der Heydt Museum
The Von der Heydt Museum is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany.
The Von der Heydt Museum includes works by artists from the 17th century to the present time.
History
The museum is housed in the former city hall of Elberfeld, which in 1902 became a ...
in
Wuppertal, to which it was bequeathed in 1913. Spitzweg's style of painting belongs to the late Romantic period.
[Uta Laxner-Gerlach, ''Katalog der Gemälde des 19. Jahrhunderts'', Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, 1974, S. 224 (German)][Günther Roennefahrt, ''Carl Spitzweg. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Ölstudien und Aquarelle'', F Bruckmann KG, Munich, 1960 (German)]
Origin
According to Hans Dietrich Lang, a steep gorge with a tunnel mouth hole in the
Peißenberg coal district, near
Peißenberg, served as the set. Spitzweg often stayed in Peißenberg; it was during a spa stay in 1833, that he made the decision to become a painter. According to Erika Günter, this rock motif is the entrance to a shaft of Mt.
Hoher Peißenberg
Hoher Peißenberg is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany.
Location
The standalone Hoher Peißenberg ("High mount Peißen") is located in the middle of the Pfaffenwinkel region, in the Bavarian Prealps, in the Weilheim-Schongau district. Its summit ...
.
[Hans Dietrich Lang, "Der Geologe bzw. der Mineraloge des Malers Carl Spitzweg", ''Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft'', Band 125, 1974, S. 5–10 (German)]
Description
The painting shows a gentleman who, according to the title of the painting, is a geologist. He kneels in front of a rock wall and holds a stone in each of his hands, which are a little larger than them. The geologist takes a closer look at the stone in his left hand. Possibly he previously knocked the two stones against each other in order to cut off a fragment. To his left he has put down an 70 to 80 cm long hackle.
The geologist wears blue trousers and a reddish coat with a darker collar. He wears a thick, beige scarf around his neck with a small piece of his white shirt collar peeking at the top. He wears a brown hat and a green
vasculum
A vasculum or a botanical box is a stiff container used by botanists to keep field samples viable for transportation. The main purpose of the vasculum is to transport plants without crushing them and by maintaining a cool, humid environment.
C ...
that he has strapped at his back.
In the painting, the red-brownish tones predominate, in addition to the mantle of the man, also through the rock walls on the left and the right. At the place where the geologist kneels, shades of yellow predominate, as if the place was lit by the sun. Green vegetation can sometimes be seen on the bottom and on the rock walls. Despite the geologist's scarf, it doesn't seem like Winter. The monogram of the artist is on the lower right.
Provenance
The provenance of the painting is not fully documented. The painting was in the possession of W. Schauß in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
since 1863. Then it came to the possession of Fritz Reimann in
Elberfeld through the Heinemann Gallery in
Munich. With the death of Reimann in 1913, it came through his legacy to the collection of the Von der Heydt Museum.
Other versions
Spitzweg did at least three versions of this painting. The first was dated of 1854, and his owned by the Städtische Galerie Pforzheim. The second is undated and is a mirror version of the two other versions. It his held at the
Museum Georg Schäfer
The Museum Georg Schäfer is a German art museum in Schweinfurt, Bavaria. Based on the private art collection of German industrialist Georg Schäfer (industrialist), Georg Schäfer (1896–1975), the museum primarily collects 19th-century paintin ...
, in
Schweinfurt. A third version, smaller, is also at the
Von der Heydt-Museum
The Von der Heydt Museum is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany.
The Von der Heydt Museum includes works by artists from the 17th century to the present time.
History
The museum is housed in the former city hall of Elberfeld, which in 1902 became a ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geologist, The
1860 paintings
Paintings by Carl Spitzweg