Caspar David Friedrich

German1774 –1840d. at age 66

Self-portrait as a young man in chalk, 180042 × 27.6 cm (16.5 × 10.9 in)

Biography

• Greifswald, Germany• Born as the 6th child in a

family of 10 chidlren• Mother died when 7• At 16 began to study art

with Johann Gottfried Quistorp at the University of Greifswald, and literature and aesthetics with the Swedish professor Thomas Thorild

Born in Germany in 1774

Biography

A Skovegn. The early morning before the sunrise, ca. 1708

Oil on canvasJens Juel (1745 - 1802).

• Entered the prestigious Academy of Copenhagen in 1794

• 1798 he settled permanently in Dresden

• On January 21, 1818, Friedrich married Caroline Bommer

• They had 3 children

Click for map

Copenhagen

Biography

• Critics didn’t always like his works, but other artists supported him and acclaimed his talents

• Later artists discovered him and were inspired by his images

Caspar David Friedrich in his Studio (1819). Georg Friedrich Kersting. Oil on canvas, 51 × 40 cm.

Kersting portrays an aged Friedrich holding a maulstick at his canvas.

InfluencesDutch Painters

The Maas at Dordrecht, c. 1650 Aelbert Cuyp

The early morning light creates striking patterns on the clouds and sails, adds to the dramatic character of the scene.

The Jewish Cemetery, 1655-60 Jacob van Ruisdael

Here a rainbow breaks the stormy skies and takes away any somber thoughts

about the ruins in the cemetary.

ca. 1825–30Oil on canvas, 13 3/4 x 17 1/4 in. (34.9 x 43.8 cm)

Comparisons

Monk by the Sea, ca. 1808Oil on canvas, 110 x 171.5 cm

The Evening Star, ca. 1830Oil on canvas, 91.1 x 122.6 cmJoseph Mallord William Turner

Light, Earth and Blue, 1954

Oil on canvas, 75 3/8 x 67 in. (191.5 x 170.2 cm)Mark Rothko (1903 –1970)

Comparison

Friedrich ca. 1808 Rothko 1954