Kite Flying

Carl Spitzweg, at once master of the fairy tale or the bittersweet anecdote, became one of the most popular of all German painters. Occasionally, he could abandon his illustrational mode in favour of a more spontaneous manner. A major example is found in a small, vertical sketch, Kite Flying, that is close to Constable and the Impressionists in its fresh observation of light, time and motion. Here the kites tell a tale of liberation, as if their freedom were shared by the artist.