889 - E. Hilbig, "Die Dachstube", copy after Carl Spitzweg, man watering flowers at attic window, 1923

E. Hilbig, "Die Dachstube", copy after Carl Spitzweg, man watering flowers at attic window, 1923 Oil on artist's board, signed, inscribed and dated lower right "E. Hilbig. cop. 1923", copy after Carl Spitzweg, scene above the rooftops of a town, in the foreground a man with a dark cap waters the flowers in the box in front of the window of his attic room, above two green birdcages, in the background a woman tends plants at the window of a dormer, behind a tower with onion dome and a domed building, good condition commensurate with age, board slightly dented, varnish yellowed, image 29x20 cm (HxW), framed, frame slightly chipped, frame width 6.5 cm Carl Spitzweg (1808 to 1885) was born in Munich, completed an apprenticeship as a pharmacist and studied pharmacy before devoting himself entirely to painting in 1833 after an illness. As a painter he remained self-taught and lived in Munich, from 1863 in a flat on the fourth floor at the Heumarkt. He became known for humorous genre paintings of Biedermeier life, in which elderly men, eccentrics and scholars pursue their hobbies. Among his best-known paintings are "Der arme Poet" in his shabby garret and "Der Kaktusliebhaber".