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Andréa Fernandes
Feel Art Again: “The Bookworm”
by Andréa Fernandes - February 5, 2008 - 3:27 PM

Feel Art.jpg

Bookworm.jpg

In Unterpfaffenhofen, Germany, 200 years ago, Carl Spitzweg was born. Spitzweg’s paintings, like “The Bookworm” and “Scholar of Natural Sciences,” are perfect for mental_floss with their mix of academia and humor. So, to celebrate Spitzweg’s birth, let’s delve into “The Bookworm.”

1. Carl Spitzweg originally trained and worked as a pharmacist, at his father’s insistence. He took up painting after an illness, and was only able to devote himself to art after an inheritance from his father made him financially independent.

2. Since Spitzweg began painting at an older age than many artists, he was not formally trained. He taught himself by copying the works of the Flemish masters.

3. Spitzweg created “anecdotal scenes of narrow-minded bourgeois life in the so-called ‘good old days,’” according to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Many of his works are humorous, eccentric portraits (like “The Bookworm” and “The Poor Poet”). His first works were contributions to satiric magazines.

4. Look closely to spot the Metaphysik (Metaphysics) plaque on the bookcase. The object in the bottom-left corner of the painting is an old, faded globe.

5. While Carl Spitzweg is not a household name, his work has had impacted others. Edmund Nick wrote a comedic opera, “Das kleine Hofknozert” (“The Little Court Concert”), inspired by Spitzweg’s work. Fritz Gruber designed a “placement game full of imagery” in which players must create exhibitions of Spitzweg’s paintings.

A larger version of “The Bookworm” is available here.

‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.

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Comments (7)

  1. Awesome painting. Strangely, it reminds me of a scene with “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”

    posted by Allison on 2-5-2008 at 3:44 pm

  2. This is one of my favorite paintings. Whatever you think about the movie “What Dreams May Come” there were several famous paintings that the did kind of “live” in the movie and the Bookworm was one of them. I thought that was so cool. :)

    posted by tulip on 2-5-2008 at 6:02 pm

  3. It’s a beautiful work yet it’s a shame this is probably the only one of his pieces fairly familiar to the general (North American) public. I had to look up others myself, and those I’ve found are rather impressive as well. He deserves to be more of a household name, but probably gets overlooked by changing tastes that for some reason seem to prefer impressionists more. Pity.

    posted by Sid Morrison on 2-6-2008 at 7:35 am

  4. Hmm – I wonder if his works had any influence on Norman Rockwell… this has that same sort of playful, idealized quality.

    posted by Roger on 2-6-2008 at 8:07 am

  5. roger-

    thought the same!

    posted by mri on 2-6-2008 at 8:33 am

  6. Roger is right… I meant that to be one of my talking points.

    posted by Sid Morrison on 2-6-2008 at 8:49 am

  7. I missed this post earlier! I had the same thought as Roger et al., that this seems like a forerunner of Rockwell.

    I really like this painting and might have to make it my wallpaper. Maybe I can help make Spitzweg a household name. (Good thing I don’t have reason to make Unterpfaffenhofen a household word.)

    posted by Therese on 2-17-2008 at 9:04 pm

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