Caspar David Friedrich

Germany

Caspar David Friedrich came from Greifswald on the Baltic and worked chiefly in Dresden.

💡 Did you know? The Baltic Sea and the chalk cliffs of Rügen recur again and again in his paintings.

Romanticism

Friedrich is regarded as the greatest landscape painter of German Romanticism.

💡 Did you know? His paintings were controversial in his lifetime: some accused him of worshipping landscape „like an altar.“

mood landscapes

Fog, ruins and vast seas are emblems in his work.

💡 Did you know? Friedrich rarely painted from nature; in the studio he assembled sketches into soulful mood-landscapes.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

„Wanderer above the Sea of Fog“ shows a man from behind on a crag above surging mist: the icon of Romanticism.

💡 Did you know? The figure seen from behind has become the emblem of Romanticism.

the figure seen from behind

It invites the viewer to look along.

💡 Did you know? The figure seen from behind invites the viewer to gaze into the distance alongside it: Friedrich's trademark.

impoverished, almost forgotten (1840)

Only in the 20th century was he rediscovered.

💡 Did you know? Friedrich died in 1840 impoverished and almost forgotten; only around 1900 was he rediscovered.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

Around 1818: one of the most quoted paintings in the world.

💡 Did you know? No other painting so embodies Romanticism, to this day it is parodied and quoted endlessly.

The Abbey in the Oakwood

Painted around 1809.

💡 Did you know? Bare oaks and a ruined abbey in the snow: Friedrich painted death as part of a greater cycle.

The Sea of Ice

Around 1823/24: a ship crushed by ice floes, an emblem of futility.

💡 Did you know? Heaped ice floes crush a ship: a bleak image of humankind foundering against nature.

Chalk Cliffs at Ruegen

Painted around 1818.

💡 Did you know? The painting probably dates from Friedrich's honeymoon to the white chalk cliffs of the Baltic island of Rügen.

The Monk by the Sea

Painted around 1800.

💡 Did you know? A tiny figure before an immense sky and sea: contemporaries found the radical emptiness unsettling.

The Stages of Life

Painted around 1834.

💡 Did you know? Five ships at varying distances mirror five people on the shore: a parable of the ages of life.

Two men contemplating the Moon

Painted around 1819.

💡 Did you know? Supposedly Friedrich and a pupil contemplating the moon: a motif he painted several times.

Mountain Landscape with Rainbow

Painted around 1809.

💡 Did you know? The rainbow appears by night: physically impossible, but meant as a sign of hope.

Altarpiece Tetschen

Painted around 1807.

💡 Did you know? A landscape used as an altarpiece sparked an art controversy: could nature take the place of holy figures?

Solitary Tree

Painted around 1822.

💡 Did you know? The old, lightning-scarred oak stands as an emblem of steadfastness amid the vastness.

Sunset

Painted around 1837.

💡 Did you know? Against the last light of day the figures turn into black silhouettes.

Tree with Crows

Painted around 1822.

💡 Did you know? A crooked, bare oak and crows: Friedrich charges even a single tree with a premonition of death.

Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich (1774 to 1840) was the foremost painter of German Romanticism, famous for his atmospheric landscapes and figures seen from behind.

💡 Did you know? Overlooked in his lifetime, Friedrich was later appropriated by the Nazis: which long burdened his reputation after 1945.