Genre scene - Family happiness

“Family Bliss” is a middle class family portrait in a home setting painted by Eugen Klimsch. When looking at the painting, one should definitely appreciate the artist’s skilfulness in rendering the outfits (e.g. the shiny silk of the dress) and his mastery in detailed presentation of the particulars of interior design: wooden wall panels, floor patterns, a carpet, leather-clad furniture, a screen made of wrought leather and patterned fabric on the table. Various exhibits were meticulously presented: precious vessels placed in the background and displayed on the shelf: a spherical jug, a large pearl conch, a chalice with a goblet made of milky glass and a golden can. The painting, similarly to the nineteenth century realistic novel, is like a mirror showing the reality, sometimes slightly stylised. Small-size genre scene paintings set at home or an inn, whose origins date back to the Biedermeier epoch, which remained popular throughout the 19th century, became a typical element of interior design of drawing rooms corresponding to the middle class taste. In the 4th quarter of the 19th century, the phenomenon led to almost mass art production. Oftentimes, more or less obvious references were made to the 17th century Dutch models ˗ both with respect to the themes and the mode of painting. The art of minor masters of 17th century burgher republic excellently matched the ideals of the middle class culture of the 19th century. It made symbolic references to the middle class ethos, manifested in virtues such as carefulness, laboriousness and foresightedness. The painting of Klimsch entitled “Family Bliss” and deriving from the collections of the pre-war Municipal Museum in Szczecin is a pendant for the “Betrothal” romantic composition; apart from its decorative values, its anecdotal content reveals a simple moralising message.

Dariusz Kacprzak