"Meine Hosen machen mir viel Verdrusz"

Friedrich Krebs (American, active in 1790–1815)

Medium/TechniquePen and watercolor on paper

DimensionsSheet: 28.4 x 39.2 cm (11 3/16 x 15 7/16 in.)

Credit LineGift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Watercolors and Drawings, 1800–1875

Accession number56.775

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ClassificationsWatercolors

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InscriptionsVerses in pen and ink beginning: Meine Hosen machen mir/ viel Verdrusz... "My trousers are giving me a lot of trouble. It is no wonder that I have lots to cry about. Isn't it terrible how people ridicule me because I am standing so queerly, without pants and without money. The whole world is laughing at me. Look how seven women are fluttering around the good smell of the trousers. Oh how crazy the world is! It is absolutely unbelievable that seven women are fighting over my poor old pants."Provenance1956, gift of Maxim Karolik (b. 1893 - d. 1963), Newport, RI, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 11, 1956)