Carl Spitzweg (1808 Munich - 1885 ibid.) Village Idyll View into the sunlit, stony, stepped, ascending ravine-like path of an Upper Bavarian mountain village, walked along by an elderly farmer in a blue jacket and yellow straw hat, seen from behind. On the left is an ancient well from which the water flows in a wide stream and in front of which a pool has spread out; behind the farmer on the right side of the picture are towering farmsteads with protruding roofs, the sky vividly cloudy. Adolf Alt writes about this in the foreword to the auction catalogue for Hugo Helbing's sale (1926): "'The Village Idyll' with its splashing fountain, the stone-weighted houses and the villager, who also appears to be weighted down, offered the artist the opportunity to combine architectural and perspective skills in the smallest of spaces". The small-format painting was created around 1871-1875 and impressively shows how much Spitzweg absorbed the influences of the Barbizon School and was already close to Impressionism in his loosened-up painting style. He was no longer concerned with the realistic depiction of details, but with an overall mood heightened by the light. In his mature period, Spitzweg increasingly turned to landscapes, which are among the most beautiful of the 19th century. Spitzweg was encouraged in this by his close friend Eduard Schleich the Elder, who is regarded as an important pioneer of open-air painting in Germany. Spitzweg travelled with him on numerous trips, including to Paris in 1851, where the Barbizon School made a great impression on both artists. Oil/wood panel. Estate stamp verso. 13.5 cm x 10.2 cm. Frame. Enclosed: Expertise by Detlef Rosenberger, Oberostendorf, 22.04.2025. Listed in the catalogues raisonnés by Günther Roennefahrt (Munich 1960, no. 706, with colour illus. on p. 38) and Siegfried Wichmann (Stuttgart 2002, no. 1542, with illus.). In both catalogues raisonnés a non-existent signature is erroneously given below. Further references and exhibitions: "Gedächtnis-Ausstellung", Kunstverein München 1908, no. 138; cat. "Ölgemälde, Aquarelle und Handzeichnungen moderner Meister aus ausländischem und deutschem Besitz (...); Auktion in der Galerie Hugo Helbing, München, 21. Oktober 1926", no. 192, p. 20 (with illus. plate 5 and description in the preface by Adolf Alt). Provenance: From the artist's estate in the possession of his heirs; sold at auction at Hugo Helbing, Munich, 1926 (see references and exhibitions). Oil on panel. Signed. Exhibition label from 1967 on the reverse. Mentioned in the catalogue raisonné by Siegfried Wichmann (no. 1542) and Günther Roennefahrt (no. 706).