Caspar David Friedrich
(German, 1774–1840)
Biography
Caspar David Friedrich was an exemplary figure of German Romanticism known for his paintings of landscapes and Gothic architecture. Friedrich employed subjects such as passing ships, isolated figures, and glowing light as esoteric symbols of mortality, as seen in his paintings Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818) and The Stages of Life (1835). “All authentic art is conceived at a sacred moment and nourished in a blessed hour; an inner impulse creates it, often without the artist being aware of it,” he once reflected. Born on September 5, 1774 in Greifswald, Germany, seeing the death of his mother and siblings as child, haunted Friedrich through adulthood. Entering the University of Greifswald in 1790, he studied under Johann Gottfried Quistorp, who often brought his students into the open countryside to draw from life. The young artist began taking landscape sketching tours of forests, mountains, and beaches around Northern Europe during the 1790s. In the decades that followed, Friedrich’s paintings and drawings were purchased by royalty in Germany as well as Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. By 1830, interest in his work and Romanticism had waned, leading Friedrich to become increasingly solitary and paranoid of other people. Suffering a stroke that left him partially paralyzed in 1835, he was living in poverty when he died on May 7, 1840 in Dresden, Germany. Despite his career faltering late in life, Friedrich’s work influenced several generations of artists, including the Hudson River School painters, Mark Rothko, and the contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the National Gallery in London, among others.
Caspar David Friedrich Artworks
Caspar David Friedrich
River landscape with a weir, 1799
Karl & Faber Kunstauktionen GmbH
Est. 40,000–60,000 EUR
Caspar David Friedrich
“Morgennebel – Böhmische Landschaft”..., 1828
Karl & Faber Kunstauktionen GmbH
Est. 150,000–200,000 EUR
Caspar David Friedrich
Wolkenstudie in bergiger Landschaft, 1803
Sale Date: November 30, 2023
Auction Closed
Caspar David Friedrich
A Bohemian landscape with a cross in a..., 1828
Sale Date: January 28, 2022
Auction Closed
Caspar David Friedrich
Hofmusikanten in Greifswald / Landschaft mit , 1801
Sale Date: December 11, 2021
Auction Closed
.jpg "Knabe auf einem Grabhügel (Jeune garçon , 1801–1803")
After Caspar David Friedrich
Knabe auf einem Grabhügel (Jeune garçon , 1801–1803
Sale Date: July 8, 2020
Auction Closed
.jpg "SONNENBLICK IM RIESENGEBIRGE (SUNBURST IN THE...")
Caspar David Friedrich
SONNENBLICK IM RIESENGEBIRGE (SUNBURST IN THE...
Sale Date: December 12, 2018
Auction Closed
.jpg "LANDSCHAFT MIT GEBIRGSEE, MORGEN (LANDSCAPE WITH")
Caspar David Friedrich
LANDSCHAFT MIT GEBIRGSEE, MORGEN (LANDSCAPE WITH
Sale Date: December 12, 2018
Auction Closed
Caspar David Friedrich
A Gothic brick building and two studies of trees
Sale Date: July 3, 2018
Auction Closed
.jpg "Böhmische Landschaft (Hügellandschaft), 1807")
Caspar David Friedrich
Böhmische Landschaft (Hügellandschaft), 1807
Sale Date: May 30, 2018
Auction Closed
.jpg "DER FREUNDSCHAFT GEWEIHT (bk w/1 work)")
Caspar David Friedrich
DER FREUNDSCHAFT GEWEIHT (bk w/1 work)
Sale Date: May 11, 2016
Auction Closed
.jpg "Das Konzert zu Groß-Schöppenstedt (after einer...")
Caspar David Friedrich
Das Konzert zu Groß-Schöppenstedt (after einer...
Sale Date: November 27, 2014
Auction Closed
Caspar David Friedrich
Verschiedene Segelboote, 1798–1800
Sale Date: November 26, 2014
Auction Closed
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