'Caspar David Friedrich and the Heralds of Romanticism' at The Museum Georg Schäfer

23 juillet 2023

'Caspar David Friedrich and the Heralds of Romanticism' at The Museum Georg Schäfer

Caspar David Friedrich: Fishing boats on the Baltic Sea (Evening by the Sea) (detail), around 1825/1826, Georg Schäfer Museum, Schweinfurt. © bpk, Georg Schäfer Museum, Schweinfurt (Photo: Peter Leutsch)

When a picture has a soulful effect on the viewer, when it puts his mind in a beautiful mood; thus it has fulfilled the first requirement of a work of art. Caspar David Friedrich, 1809.

But can images be felt more than seen? - This exhibition addresses the mood triggers in landscape painting and their importance for the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Another aspect is the profound change in the perception of nature in modern times, with landscape painting of the 17th century playing a pioneering role. Their ideas and innovations were evident to everyone interested in art in the late 18th century, i.e. during Caspar David Friedrich’s training period. Friedrich met teachers and painting schools in Copenhagen (from 1794) and later in Dresden who were oriented towards the old masters. Forerunners included artists such as Claude Gellée, called Lorrain (1600-1682), Jacob van Ruisdael (c.1628-1682) and Jan van Goyen (1596-1656).

Caspar David Friedrich: Chalk cliffs on Rügen, 1818, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Oskar Reinhart Foundation. © SIK-ISEA, Zurich, Philipp Hitz

Caspar David Friedrich: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, around 1817, Hamburger Kunsthalle, permanent loan from the Hamburg Art Collections Foundation. © SHK/Hamburger Kunsthalle/bpk (Photo: Elke Walford)

The importance of the time of day

In 1669, the painter Sébastien Bourdon associated natural phenomena with mood content depending on the time of day. For example, the sunrise brings with it joy; the afternoon licentiousness. Certain weather phenomena are also suitable for mood-related tragic or sad topics. The depictions of the times of day formed the central content of Caspar David Friedrich's oeuvre until around 1812. He continued to study the phenomena of nature and followed his heart. In 1822, the novelist de la Motte-Fouqué noted that Friedrich was concerned with the accusation that he "could paint nothing but moonlight, sunset, morning, sea and seashore, snowy landscapes, churchyards, deserted moors, forest streams, cliff valleys and the like." the motif groups sea and boats, cross and grave, oak and German forest. Friedrich departs from the canon of motifs of the old masters with the atmospheric phenomenon of fog; this can evoke different and opposing feelings between salvation and hope, between joy in the morning and fear of being lost. Friedrich decisively reinforced the natural triggers for a mixture of feelings in 1818 in Wanderer über den Nebelmeer in a large format.

Jan Asselijn: Southern harbor landscape at sunset, around 1647, Kunst Museum Winterthur, gift from the Jakob Briner Foundation. © SIK-ISEA, Zurich, Lutz Hartmann

Caspar David Friedrich: Eldena ruins in the Giant Mountains, around 1830/1834, Pomeranian State Museum Foundation, Greifswald. © Pomeranian State Museum Foundation, Greifswald.

The renewal of the past

While older landscape painting depicted ancient ruins as a sign of the past, Romanticism, on the other hand, elevated medieval churches and castle ruins to carriers of atmosphere. The Middle Ages were not understood as a long-completed phase, but as a historically anchored utopia for the renewed unity of state and church. This idea led to the generation order of 3 completion of numerous buildings. With the picture The Cathedral (around 1818), Caspar David Friedrich provided both a vision and an ideal architectural design.

Caspar David Friedrich: Portrait of his father, around 1798, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Oskar Reinhart Foundation. © SIK-ISEA, Zurich, Philipp Hitz© SIK-ISEA, Zurich, Philipp Hitz

On the change in the conception of nature

In the early modern literature one followed a strict typification of nature. These included the opposing categories of the ugly and the beautiful. Ugly were waterfalls, rocks, cliffs and dark canyons. The processed and ordered nature was considered beautiful. Nevertheless, some landscape painters broke away from these thought patterns early on. Also with regard to the idea of the simple pastoral life in Arcadia, the desired courtly order, manifested as a symmetrically structured baroque garden, was replaced. The gradual shift towards a more positive understanding of wild nature continued throughout the 18th century. The high mountains, previously a realm of horror and loneliness, were now appreciated in the aspect of the sublime. Only in the time of Caspar David Friedrich did the view that is still considered "romantic" prevail. Modern nature conservation ideas soon followed.

In cooperation with the Kunst Museum Winterthur and thanks to many loans, this exhibition shows 100 masterpieces, including 41 works by Caspar David Friedrich (25 paintings, 13 drawings). A richly illustrated catalog is being published by Hirmer Verlag with many new aspects of his work and the traditional lines of mood carriers in painting.

Many have imitated him, but no one has yet understood how to reproduce that quiet natural life which was so characteristic of Friedrich's art and which gives his often seemingly stiff pictures their own charm. Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857) on Caspar David Friedrich

The exhibition is a cooperation with the Kunst Museum Winterthur and is open there from 26.08. to be seen until 19.11.2023.

Curator for Schweinfurt: Prof. Dr. Wolf Eierman

Gerhard von Kügelgen: Portrait of Caspar David Friedrich, around 1806/1811, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Oskar Reinhart Foundation. © Pomeranian State Museum Foundation, Greifswald. SIK-ISEA, Zurich, Philipp Hitz

Posté par Alain Truong à 14:50 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: Caspar David Friedrich, Jan Asselijn, Gerhard von Kügelgen