My favorite of his is, “Monk at the sea”. Not sure why, colors? Openness? Just a feeling i guess. Also interesting his Masonic iconography throughout his works.
Not an art or history major here, just sort of stumbled on his works and they grabbed me, would love to hear some explanation or history about him and his works
Caspar David Friedrich was a really really melancholic person. With that he would theoretically fit perfectly into the group of romantic painters of his time, but his paintings were radically different. He gave landscapes and romanticism a whole new spin.
The painting “Monk at the sea” for example, can be described as abstract. Which was very unusual at the time. Some say he wanted to show how overwhelming nature can be in it’s beauty and vastness but also how it makes us insignificant and remembers our fleeting lifes.
Some of his paintings were influenced by the death of one of his brothers, some by the war and some because he suffered from depression and apparently even tried to commit suicide. His later paintings didn’t got much attention because realism in landscapes was cool and Caspar didn’t like that at all and continued to do his thing, even though he couldn’t make money with it anymore.
In general it seems like he was a rebellious person and/or very bitter. He hated Napoleon and sadly all the French, apparently. But he also said some cool stuff. Here’s a translation of his opinion about his teachers in art class:
Not everything can be taught, not everything can be learned, and acquired through mere dead practice; for what can truly be called of a purely spiritual nature in art lies beyond the narrow boundaries of craftsmanship. Therefore, you teachers of art, who fancy yourselves so much with your knowledge and skill, be very cautious not to tyrannically impose your teachings and rules on everyone; for by doing this, you can easily crush the delicate flowers, destroy the temple of individuality, without which a person can accomplish nothing great.” – Caspar David Friedrich (1830)
There are many different interpretations about his art. In part because some see him as one of the first modern painters. So many different people tried to analyse his works. But there isn’t so much material about the person because he is much more famous now, after his death.
Isn’t this painting featured in a video game or something?
In Minecraft it’s called “Wanderer”
It’s used as the cover art for Thus Spake Zarathustra, I’ve got a copy on my desk with it
I’ve learned something new!
Aah I wrote my Abitur (end of high school?) Exam about his art. People really didn’t like that he painted figures from behind, in his time. Some also described his paintings as scary. They do often give off an eerie vibe. I feel like they almost look as if they were taken out of a dark fantasy novel.
I’m expecting wolves to appear in the upper image.
Thanks for adding these :)
