Moritz von Schwind
German Romanticism, as filtered through the middle class imagination of the 1830's and 1840's. Lyrical, Viennese, interested in invoking Germany's poetic, rather than historical past: the perfect artist for the more fanciful patrons of the Biedermeier era.
Moritz von Schwind sought to populate the German imagination. He illustrated some of the songs of his friend Schubert, he accepted commissions to paint the interiors of the homes of fortunate patrons, among them King Ludwig of Bavaria.
And yet despite his popularity... he does a fine job of depicting a past as remembered in fairytales, in the poems of Novalis and the stories of Tieck. Through landscapes haunted by spirits, dwarves, fairies, and easeful animals, hermits dream and wanderers wander.
Moritz von Schwind sought to populate the German imagination. He illustrated some of the songs of his friend Schubert, he accepted commissions to paint the interiors of the homes of fortunate patrons, among them King Ludwig of Bavaria.
And yet despite his popularity... he does a fine job of depicting a past as remembered in fairytales, in the poems of Novalis and the stories of Tieck. Through landscapes haunted by spirits, dwarves, fairies, and easeful animals, hermits dream and wanderers wander.
