Carl hübner (1814-1879) the silesian weavers (oil on canvas, around 1845-47, attributed, not signed) carl hübner was a member of the düsseldorf school of painting. His painting of the misery of the silesian weavers from 1845 was so successful that he immediately made at least two more versions. The versions known so far are in the landesmuseum bonn, the museum kunstpalast düsseldorf and the smallest, from 1846, in the german historical museum in berlin. The latter came from the former private collection of walter ulbricht. Friedrich engels wrote of this painting that it had "apologized more effectively for socialism than 100 pamphlets. " the painting shows some silesian weavers bringing woven linen to a publisher (middleman) and contrasts very impressively the cold-hearted wealth on the one hand with the desperate poverty on the other. This painting was exhibited in several german cities immediately after it was created and, according to friedrich engels, "understandably made many people receptive to social ideas. " to depict the enormous distance between the middleman and the poor weavers, hübner uses an almost ingenious stylistic device: he models his posture on duplessis' portrait of louis xvi, the last king of the ancien regime who was executed by the french revolution, a hidden message that was readable by educated people of the time. Date: 1845. Collection: Brandenburg-Preussen Museum.
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