Karl Philipp Fohr

There, his future biographer Johann Philipp Dieffenbach[1] introduced him to the grand-ducal court at Darmstadt and to Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, who acted as a patron, placed small orders from him, and offered him later an annual salary.

While hiking through the Odenwald and the valley of the river Neckar, Fohr executed a serial of preliminary sketches to the watercolors for the Skizzenbuch der Neckargegend, which was finalized in the winter of 1813/14 and dedicated to Princess Wilhelmine, offering pittoresque views, historical and fairy-tale subjects of the region.

The Badisches Skizzenbuch, commissioned by Princess Wilhelmine, was a result of his tours through the Black Forest, containing pittoresque views e.g. of Kloster Lichtenthal, the burial place of the Margraves of Baden.

[15] Although Fohr obviously intended to depict the crowd of artists that gathered in the Caffé Greco, the design should not – with respect to the cult of friendship mentioned above – be considered as a snap-shot or a realistic impression.

Despite his premature death Fohr left an impressive oeuvre (see catalogue raisonnée),[18] which includes around 800 drawings, watercolors, and prints, but only seven paintings, predominantly preserved in Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum,[19] and in Darmstadt Hessisches Landesmuseum,.