the effect of light, and used new colours, such as Aniline Yellow, and photographs, as an aid. The landscapes from the mid-1880s show the same broad brushstrokes as seen in the paintings of the young Franz von Lenbach. Busch refused to exhibit work even though he was befriended by many artists of the Munich School, which would have allowed him to do so; it was not until near the end of his life that he presented his paintings to the public. Themes, technique, and style Busch biographer Joseph Kraus divided his work into three periods. He points out, however, that this classification is a simplification, as some works by their nature may be of a later or earlier period. All three periods show Busch's obsession with German middle class life. His peasants are devoid of sensitivity and village life is marked by a vivid lack of sentiment. From 1858 to 1865 Busch chiefly worked for the Fliegenden Blätter and the Münchener Bilderbogen. The period from 1866 to 1884 is characterized by his major illustrated stories, such as Helen Who Couldn't Help It. These stories are different in theme from works of his earlier period. The life of his characters start well, but disintegrate, as in Painter Squirtle (Maler Klecksel); someone sensitive who becomes a pedant. Others concern recalcitrant children or animals, or make the great or significant foolish and ridiculous. The early stories follow the pattern of children's books of orthodox education, such as those by Heinrich Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter, that aim to teach the devastating consequences of bad behaviour. Busch did not assign value to his work, as he once explained to Heinrich Richter: "I look at my things for what they are, as Nuremberg trinkets [toys], as Schnurr Pfeiferen [worthless and useless things] whose value is to be found not in its artistic content, but in public demand (...)". From 1885 until his death in 1908 his work was dominated by prose and poems. The 1895 prose text Der Schmetterling contains autobiographical accounts. Peter's enchantment by the witch Lucinde, of whom he regards himself a slave, is possibly in reference to Johanna Kessler. Peter, like Busch, returns to his birthplace. It is similar in style to the romantic travel story that Ludwig Tieck established with his 1798 Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen. Busch plays with its traditional forms, motifs, pictures, literary topics, and form of narration. Technique Publisher Kaspar Braun, who