Friedrich, Caspar David (1774-1840), was a German painter . Friedrich painted some of the most powerful and mystical landscapes of the Romantic period, which flourished in Europe during the early 1800’s. His paintings are based upon careful studies of the natural world. However, his works are filled with a mysterious, otherworldly quality that goes beyond nature and demands a strong emotional response from the viewer. See Painting (Romanticism) .
Friedrich painted dense forests, vast stretches of sea and mountains, and plains covered in fog or snow. He created melancholy views of architectural ruins, distorted trees, mountain crags, and isolated human figures. Friedrich filtered these subjects through lighting effects produced by sunlight, dusk, and moonlight.
Friedrich was deeply patriotic and religious. Although he did not usually paint specifically religious scenes, his pictures express a haunting spiritual quality. He believed that only through landscape could he capture his most personal feelings regarding his love for his country and his belief that God was most closely felt in nature.
Friedrich was born on Sept. 5, 1774, in Greifswald, Germany. He studied from 1794 to 1798 at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He then settled in Dresden , Germany, where he lived most of the rest of his life. Friedrich began his art career as a draftsman and did not take up oil painting until 1808.
Friedrich’s art was nearly forgotten by the time of his death on May 7, 1840. However interest in his work developed during the late 1800’s with the emergence of the Symbolism movement. Like Friedrich, Symbolist artists sought a reality beyond the physical world.
