Caspar David Friedrich

Artist

• Born: September 5, 1774
• Place of Birth: Greifswald, Germany
• Died: May 7, 1840
• Place of Death: Dresden, Germany

Significance: Known primarily for his atmospheric landscape paintings, Caspar David Friedrich is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of the German romanticism movement. Largely overlooked during his lifetime, Friedrich's work was rediscovered during the rise of symbolism in the late nineteenth century.

Background

Caspar David Friedrich was born in the Pomeranian town of Greifswald, on the Baltic coast of what is now northeastern Germany. He was the sixth of ten children in a devoutly religious Lutheran family.

Friedrich became familiar with death at an early age. His mother passed away when he was seven years old. At the age of thirteen, Friedrich witnessed the death of his brother Johann, who fell through the thin ice of a frozen lake and drowned. By 1791, two of his sisters had also died. Friedrich grew up to become a notoriously moody and sullen adult. Some art historians and biographers believe that these early experiences with death had a strong influence on the development of his character.

In 1790, Friedrich began to study the visual arts at the University of Greifswald, where he learned to draw under the tutelage of Johann Quistorp, a locally renowned architect and artist. Friedrich then went on to attend the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark, where he had access to an extensive collection of seventeenth-century Dutch realist landscape paintings. Following his formal training, Friedrich settled in Dresden. He lived in Dresden for the remainder of his life, though he did make regular visits to Greifswald and the forested areas of what is now northern Germany.

Life's Work

During the initial phase of his career, Friedrich pursued printmaking while also creating etchings and woodcuts. His early paintings were mostly executed in ink and watercolor, though his 1797 oil work Landscape with Temple in Ruinsis a rare exception. Friedrich displayed an immediate thematic preoccupation with landscapes, drawing inspiration from the forested and hilly vistas of his hometown region.

In 1805, Friedrich won a prize at an arts competition in Weimar, marking a breakthrough success. Three years later, Friedrich executed a canvas titledCross in the Mountains,depicting the crucified Christ alone atop a mountain in a scene dominated by landscape elements. A Bohemian aristocrat had ordered the painting for a private chapel. At the time, it was unheard of for an artist to create a landscape painting for a religious commission. Although the event resulted in a scandal, it also raised Friedrich's profile. The work is now considered an important example of Friedrich's interpretation of nature as an expression of the divine.

Friedrich became a member of the Berlin Academy of Art in 1810 and went on to join the Saxon Academy in Dresden in 1818. The latter appointment came with a modest annual stipend, giving Friedrich a measure of financial independence. Friedrich also secured two prominent Russian patrons, who purchased his works and recommended him to their peers. These successes helped his artistic career flourish. During his career, Friedrich also explored portraiture, but he made his name as a groundbreaking landscape artist.

Known for his introversion and contemplative nature, Friedrich spent long hours in solitude and isolation, often beginning lengthy nature walks before sunrise. During these outings, he made detailed studies and closely observed the visual qualities of dawn, dusk, and moonlight. Friedrich used these studies as the basis of many of his paintings, relying on a combination of preparation and imagination to create striking scenes that captured the mystical aspects of nature.

Friedrich considered communion with nature to be a spiritual experience, enabling humankind to connect with God. Many of his most famous paintings depict figures viewed from behind as they peer upon atmospheric landscapes. In many of Friedrich's canvases, nature is far greater in scale than the human figures. His paintings make extensive use of symbolic elements that signify the life-death cycle and the ephemeral nature of existence. He is also widely considered one of the most technically skilled artists in European history at capturing the effects of moonlight, sunrise, sunset, and fog.

When romanticism began to fall out of vogue in the early decades of the nineteenth century, Friedrich lost many of his wealthiest patrons and descended into poverty. In the summer of 1835, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. His artistic production dramatically declined, and he never recovered. By the time of his death in 1840, Friedrich had lapsed into obscurity, and his influence was largely limited to a group of local artists and students working in Dresden.

Interest in his work vastly increased as the 250th anniversary of his birth approached in 2024. In Germany, three major exhibitions took place. The first opened in December 2023 at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. It featured works depicting Friedrich's insight into humankind's relationship with nature. In April 2024, an exhibition at Alte Nationalgalerie opened in Berlin. Caspar David Friedrich: Infinite Landscapes examined the venue's impact in reintroducing his work in the early twentieth century with a 1906 exhibition of ninety-three works. The third opened in August at Albertinum and Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden. Greifswald, Weimar, and other smaller cities also planned exhibitions.

Impact

Friedrich's use of landscape painting as a personal expression of subjective experience makes him a representative example of the ideals and aesthetics of romanticism. His choice of subjects broke new ground, and his highly detailed compositions have earned critical praise for their formal beauty and symbolic power.

Although he was largely forgotten by the end of his life, symbolists rediscovered Friedrich's work as the nineteenth century ended. Symbolism focuses on allegories and visual metaphors, and Friedrich's extensive use of these elements predates the symbolist movement. Most of Friedrich's surviving work is on display at major art museums in Germany and around the world.

Personal Life

In 1818, at the age of forty-four, Friedrich married Caroline Bommer, who was twenty-five. The couple had three children. The union brought Friedrich a large measure of contentment, but he struggled with depression throughout his life and went through several major depressive episodes. One such episode lasted from 1824 until 1826, after which Friedrich's use of color noticeably shifted to subdued, dark tones.

Bibliography

"Caspar David Friedrich." The J. Paul Getty Museum,www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/3215/caspar-david-friedrich-german-1774-1840/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

"Caspar David Friedrich Biography." Southern Illinois University: Department of Languages, Cultures, and International Trade,cola.siu.edu/languages/undergraduate/language-programs/german/german-101/art/art-bios/friedrich.php. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

"Caspar David Friedrich: Infinite Landscapes." Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2024, www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/caspar-david-friedrich/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

"C.D. Friedrich Biography." University of Greifswald: Caspar David Friedrich Center,2009, www.caspar-david-friedrich-gesellschaft.de/c-d-friedrich-biography.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

Frank, Manfred. The Philosophical Foundations of Early German Romanticism. State U of New York P, 2012.

Heath, Duncan. Introducing Romanticism.Icon Books, 2014.

Hickley, Catherine. "Caspar David Friedrich: His Rise from Obscurity to Fame." The Art Newspaper, 3 Jan. 2024, www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/03/caspar-david-friedrich-his-rise-from-obscurity-to-fame. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

Koerner, Joseph Leo. Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape.2nd ed., Reaktion Books, 2009.

"Romantic German Art: Out of the Darkness." BBC Culture,21 Oct. 2014, www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130510-german-art-out-of-the-darkness. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

Wolf, Norbert. Caspar David Friedrich, 1774–1840: The Painter of Stillness.Taschen, 2003.