Full Description
Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) is now recognized as a leading artist of the German Romantic movement of the early nineteenth century. He is known as the painter of images of a strange and compelling beauty: mysterious landscapes with barren trees, figures silhouetted against the evening sky, and gothic ruins in wintry mists.
The meaning of these pictures has long been disputed, but William Vaughan argues that Friedrich's aim was to convey the spiritual experience of life. For Friedrich, the contemplation of nature can lead us to understand the deeper meaning of things. In this emphasis on feeling, and focus on landscape, Friedrich was very much the product of his times.
In this captivating book, Vaughan discusses all aspects of the artist's life and career, from his childhood as the son of a soapmaker in Pomerania, to his adulthood in Dresden, where he achieved such fame that his paintings were bought by the Prussian royal family and the Russian Tsar. Friedrich's radical political sympathies, however, were to affect his reputation and, as the author reveals, it was only in the late twentieth century that the enigmatic quality of his paintings began to be fully valued and he gained truly international recognition.
Contents
Introduction; 1. On the Baltic: Childhood in Pomerania, Student Years in Copenhagen 1774-1798; 2. Dresden and the Romantics: First Steps in a Professional Career 1798-1805; 3. Becoming Friedrich: The Achievement of Celebrity 1805-1809; 4. The Patriot: Landscape and Politics during the War of Liberation 1809-1816; 5. Demagogic Machinations: Landscape and Politics in the post-Napoleonic Era 1816-1830; 6. Nature and Invention: engagements with Naturalism and Science 1818-1826; 7 The Spiritual Eye: Observations on Art and the Contemporary Art World 1826-1830; 8. Towards Darkness: The Later Career 1825-1840; 9. Maggot or Butterfly?: Friedrich's Legacy and Reputation inside and outside Germany; Glossary; Brief Biographies; Key Dates; Map; Further Reading; Index
