Newspaper Reader in the Garden

This small panel by Carl Spitzweg, also known as The Morning Reading, shows a man in a dark dressing gown who has stepped into his back garden with a newspaper. A sunlit whitewashed wall separates his plot from the neighbour's; on one side clematis climbs a dense trellis, and on the other a vine-covered pergola shelters a table set with breakfast dishes and a coffee service. A long tobacco pipe rests on the bench. The reader is seen in profile, silhouetted against the bright wall, with arched eyebrows and his jaw slightly raised, as if disapproving of what he reads. The scene looks idyllic, but it is usually read against the background of the revolutions of 1848–1849, when uprisings against the restored monarchical order were followed by strict press censorship and bans on smoking in public spaces. In that climate, withdrawing into private life was a prudent way to avoid trouble, and the reader's expression could be a silent form of criticism. Some writers have seen in him an ironic dissenter, though his own reputation was also questioned at the time.

Painter

Carl Spitzweg

Date

1845

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

21 × 16 cm

Museum

Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern

Genre

genre art

Depicts

newspaper, garden, reading, wall, morning, man

Share:FacebookWhatsApp