Carl August Reinhardt (April 25, 1818 - August 11, 1877), also as Karl, was a writer, painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. During a rather tumultuous youth filled with periods of wandering, Reinhardt studied painting in Leipzig, Dresden, and Munich, with established painters including Johan Christian Clausen Dahl and Albert Zimmermann. Early in his career, he traveled frequently, finding work where he could, ranging from landscape paintings to caricatures for major periodicals, including Kladderadatsch, Die Gartenlaube, and the Illustrirte Zeitung in Leipzig. He also drew plates for works of fiction. His 'picture sheets' (Bilderbogen) are considered to be an important forerunner to comics.