Poor People, 1858

About the Work

Exhausted, an old woman and a little boy have sunk to the ground in front of a church. Former Städel director Georg Swarzenski considered this canvas one of the most prominent works of nineteenth-century German painting. Indeed, it was unusual in Germany at that time to depict members of the lower social classes on so large a scale. Inspired by the work of the Realist Gustave Courbet, with whom he shared a studio in 1858/59, Göbel here portrayed figures from society’s margins – with a touch of sentimentality, but with critical intentions.