He first became known for his atmospheric paintings depicting St. Martin's Eve. Soon, he soon received numerous orders from throughout the region; developing his own style of portraits, which included detailed interiors, inspired by Dutch Golden Age paintings. His portrait characterizations were also inspired by the works of Heinrich Christoph Kolbe. This combination produced an important record of bourgeois domestic life, in the decade leading up to the revolutions of 1848. Perhaps his best known work of this type is a portrait of the Elberfeld merchant and landowner, . He would eventually produce about fourteen portraits of Weerth, his family, and friends.