My Favorite Artists and Their Art: Caspar David Friedrich

When it comes to Gothic imagery, there are few artists so fundamental in the creation of an aesthetic as Caspar David Friedrich.  Comprised of desolate landscapes, decrepit monasteries, haunted cemeteries, and gnarled forests, his iconic and often operatic paintings conjure up visions of German Romanticism.  At once his compositions are simple in their depiction of the majesty of nature as it dwarfs all human endeavors, but his work is also far more complex than that, employing subtle symbolism and allegory in landscapes to comment on what were then political, social, and religious concerns of his time.  Are the duo who appear to be admiring the moon, in fact, conspirators who chose this moonlight rendezvous for a clandestine meeting?  Whose is the disembodied spirit that hovers above the uneven grounds of the graveyard?  What do the trio of companions spot over the cliffs of Rügen?  Friedrich’s paintings are more than epic depictions of crumbling abbeys and ancient trees.  They are visual journeys into the heart of the past.

“The Abbey in the Oakwood” (1809-1810)

“The Sea of Ice” (circa 1823-1824)

“The Tree of Crows” (circa 1822)

“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” (circa 1818)

“Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon” (circa 1824)

“Chalk Cliffs on Rügen” (circa 1818)

“Oak Tree in the Snow” (1829)

“Entrance to the Cemetery” (1825)

“Moonrise by the Sea” (circa 1821)

“Ruins of Eldena, near Greifswald” (circa 1825)

“Garden Bower in Greifswald” (1818)

“Screech Owl on a Cross” (1836-1837)

“Two Men Contemplating the Moon” (1819-1820)

“Evening” (circa 1820-1821)

“Seashore in Moonlight” (1835)

 

“The Abbey in the Oakwood” (1809-1810)

“The Sea of Ice” (circa 1823-1824)

“The Tree of Crows” (circa 1822)

“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” (circa 1818)

“Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon” (circa 1824)

“Chalk Cliffs on Rügen” (circa 1818)

“Oak Tree in the Snow” (1829)

“Entrance to the Cemetery” (1825)

“Moonrise by the Sea” (circa 1821)

“Ruins of Eldena, near Greifswald” (circa 1825)

“Garden Bower in Greifswald” (1818)

“Screech Owl on a Cross” (1836-1837)

“Two Men Contemplating the Moon” (1819-1820)

“Evening” (circa 1820-1821)

“Seashore in Moonlight” (1835)