View of the New Spring in Karlsbad

Georg Emanuel Opiz was a painter who spent his life travelling. He was thus able to cultivate his feeling for the characteristics of the individual and the setting, which he put to use not only in his miniature portraits, but also in a number of print series devoted to genre scenes from the urban milieu. These scenes include this etching that was created at the time when a section of the colonnade with the New Spring was restored in Karlsbad on the Teplá River. The group showing visitors to the spa and its typical local characters is rendered to enhance the contrast of social types and acuity of expression bordering on caricature. Opiz, who worked as a portrait painter during the spa season, might have also portrayed notable individuals among the participants in the scene. The inscription on the sheet from the National Gallery’s collections notes that J. W. Goethe, a frequent guest of West Bohemian spa resorts, is depicted on the stairs in the background.