Famous Art Works Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
German language: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer
Artist	Caspar David Friedrich
Year	c.  1818
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	94.eight cm × 74.8 cm (37.3 in × 29.4 in)
Location	Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Wanderer higher up the Ocean of Fog ^[a] is a painting by German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich fabricated in 1818.^[two] It depicts a human continuing upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer; he is gazing out on a mural covered in a thick sea of fog through which other ridges, copse, and mountains pierce, which stretches out into the distance indefinitely.

It has been considered one of the masterpieces of the Romanticism movement and ane of its virtually representative works. The painting has been widely interpreted as an emblem of self-reflection or contemplation of life'due south path, and the landscape is widely considered to evoke the sublime. Friedrich was a common user of Rückenfigur (German language: Rear-facing figure) in his paintings; Wanderer to a higher place the Sea of Fog is perhaps the about famous Rückenfigur in art due to the subject field's prominence. The painting too expresses Freiedrich's German language liberal and nationalist feeling by depicting the figure wearing an Altdeutsche ("Old German language") outfit, which was associated with the nationalist movement and banned by the states of the German language Confederation in 1819.

While Friedrich was respected in German and Russian circles, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and Friedrich's work in general were not immediately regarded as masterpieces. Friedrich's reputation improved in the early 20th century, and in particular during the 1970s; Wanderer became particularly popular, actualization as an case of "popular fine art" likewise as high culture on books and other works. The provenance of the artwork after its creation is unknown, only by 1939 was on display in the gallery of Wilhelm August Luz in Berlin, and was acquired past the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Deutschland in 1970 where information technology has been displayed ever since.

Description [edit]

In the foreground, a human being stands upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer. He is wrapped in a dark greenish overcoat, and grips a walking stick in his right hand.^[3] His hair caught in a wind, the wanderer gazes out on a landscape covered in a thick sea of fog. In the eye ground, several other ridges, perchance not unlike the ones the wanderer himself stands upon, jut out from the mass.^[4] Through the wreaths of fog, forests of trees can exist perceived atop these escarpments. In the far distance, faded mountains ascent in the left, gently leveling off into lowland plains in the right. Beyond here, the pervading fog stretches out indefinitely, eventually commingling with the horizon and becoming indistinguishable from the cloud-filled sky.^[3]

The painting is composed of various elements from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony and Bohemia, sketched in the field but in accordance with his usual practice, rearranged past Friedrich himself in the studio for the painting. In the background to the right is the Zirkelstein.^[v] The mountain in the background to the left could be either the Rosenberg or the Kaltenberg. The group of rocks in front end of it correspond the Gamrig most Rathen. The rocks on which the traveler stands are a grouping on the Kaiserkrone.^[6]

Cosmos and history [edit]

The date of creation of Wanderer is mostly given as 1818, although some sources indicate 1817. The provenance of the painting in the 19th century is unclear, merely information technology came to the ownership of the gallery of Wilhelm August Luz in Berlin in 1939. It was and so plain sold to Ernst Henke, a German lawyer, earlier returning to the Luz gallery. The painting bounced between individual collections before existence acquired by the Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg Fine art Hall) in 1970, where it has been on brandish since.^[7]

Notable events in Friedrich's life in 1817 and 1818 include him striking upwards a friendship with the scientist Carl Gustav Carus and the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl in 1817, Friedrich marrying Caroline Brommer in January 1818, and the couple going on a honeymoon dorsum to Freidrich'southward hometown of Greifswald for weeks after.^[8]

Romanticism [edit]

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is closely associated with Romanticism, a wide artistic and literary motility that emerged after the Age of Enlightenment.^[9] While the identity of the man is uncertain, some have suggested information technology is a cocky-portrait of the artist himself, pointing to similarities in appearance, such as the red hair,^[10] and for this reason the painting has been widely interpreted as an emblem of self-reflection or contemplation of life's path.^{[4] [3]} The landscape of Wanderer is widely considered to evoke the sublime, of greater mysteries and potential beyond the typical. Friedrich stated his ideas in regards to this, "The artist should pigment not only what he has in front of him but as well what he sees within himself."^[11] On mist, he wrote "When a region cloaks itself in mist, it appears larger and more sublime, elevating the imagination, and rousing the expectations like a veiled girl."^[12]

Differences still exist between Friedrich and other Romanticists. Werner Hofmann wrote that Wanderer was more open-ended and questioning than typical Romantic works. He compares Fridrich's searching Wanderer who does non know the future with Delacroix'due south Liberty Leading the People, which is more certain well-nigh the course of activity required, mayhap related to the differences in German and French nationalism of the era.^[13]

Friedrich criticized other artists of his day^[b] as painting overfilled "marvel shops" that covered every part of the canvass with new features.^[14] While Wanderer is detailed, it does not lose focus by including an assortment of geographic features, other people, or buildings; the work stays centered on the mountains and the mist, and lets the viewer's centre explore it at its own pace.

Rückenfigur and similar work [edit]

Traditional art standards hold that if people are present in a scene, they are turned toward the viewer or in profile. Exceptions exist but are mostly for minor characters in a crowded scene. While Friedrich was non the first artist to use a Rückenfigur, he used such figures turned abroad from the viewer considerably more often and persistently than other artists.^[15] Friedrich's use of the Rückenfigur was by and large considered to invite viewers "inside" the painting and encourage the viewer to consider the perspective from the depicted mysterious person whose face cannot be seen. Wanderer above the Bounding main of Fog is peradventure the most famous Rückenfigur in art due to the bailiwick's prominence.^[xv] The figure changes the sense and focus of the painting. Helmut Börsch-Supan [de] wrote that "It is harder to imagine this landscape without a figure than it is in whatsoever other painting."^[sixteen]

Other works of Friedrich's comparable to Wanderer with such a Rückenfigur motif include Woman at a Window, Two Men past the Bounding main at Moonrise, and Neubrandenburg.^[5]

Wieland Schmied argues that Wanderer was a precursor to the surrealism of René Magritte; Friedrich included subtle incongruities in his work and seemingly impossible perspectives, as seen in Wanderer, and Magritte took such elements even further in his work.^[17] The background of the picture seemingly plunges into the foreground, with the depth between them unclear.^[18]

Ideology [edit]

Friedrich was an outspoken supporter of German liberal and nationalist feeling. The onetime High german princely states were disrupted and saw their authority compromised in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars of 1803–1815. German nationalists advocated for the Unification of Germany and the abolitionism of the conservative German nobility and leadership of the German Confederation. 1 of the ways German liberals identified themselves and showed their support was a fashion trend: Altdeutsche ("Old German") outfits, a restoration of a heroic unified German past of the 1500s–1600s and the age of Martin Luther.^[c] Nationalists such as Friedrich thus identified themselves with restoring a lost national greatness. The figure in Wanderer above the Body of water of Fog wears only such an Altdeutsche outfit, a political statement in the era when the painting was created. The tendency was sufficiently alarming to the Vormärz post-Napoleonic governments that Altdeutsche costumes were banned in 1819 by the Carlsbad Decrees, a year afterwards the painting of Wanderer.^[15]

A thing less clear is how Friedrich'south Lutheranism affected Wanderer, if at all. Friedrich'south religious side is seen in other paintings of his, such as the 1810 painting Cross in the Mountains, which fit a humble sort of Christianity that found beauty in nature. This corresponds with Luther's writing that all the great cathedrals and pompous buildings of the Cosmic Church of his era could exist torn down with picayune loss. To Friedrich's interpretation of Lutheranism, true religion was found in nature, simplicity, and individual people, all elements of Wanderer .^[19] Another potential link was how Friedrich met and befriended the scientist and fellow painter Carl Gustav Carus in 1817 simply before he would have been preparing and painting Wanderer. Fine art historian Joseph Koerner notes that Carus wrote on a particular poetry in the Luther Bible: Luther translated the account of God's cosmos of Globe in the Book of Genesis 2:half-dozen as Aber ein Nebel ging auf von der Erde und feuchtete alles Land (English language: A fog arose from the Earth and moistened the entire country).^[20] Carus argued the fog was God's assistant in the Creation, turning barren mountains into verdant forests. Koerner hypothesizes that Carus and Friedrich could take discussed the matter in the course of their friendship. He sees that Wanderer could well be depicting a Creation-esque scene: the effigy views a land of unknown possibility, hidden in the mist.^[15]

Mountain climbing [edit]

Robert Macfarlane argues the painting had meaning influence on how mount climbing has been viewed in the Western globe since the Romantic era, calling it the "archetypical paradigm of the mountain-climbing visionary". He admires its power in representing the concept that standing on mountain tops is something to be admired, an idea which barely existed in before centuries.^[21]

Reception [edit]

While Friedrich was respected in German and Russian circles, Wanderer above the Ocean of Fog and Friedrich's work in general were not immediately regarded equally masterpieces. His fame waned as he grew older; he wrote that the art judges of his day did non appreciate winter landscapes and mist enough.^[12] Friedrich's reputation improved in the early 20th century, and in particular during the 1970s. Wanderer became particularly popular: used as an inspiration for a variety of works since, and not merely known among art scholars. Wanderer has appeared on the comprehend of numerous books, T-shirts, CDs, coffee mugs, and and then on, condign a staple of "popular art" also as high civilization.^[19] Werner Hofmann hypothesizes that the subject looking upon a sail of open possibility, ready to make a choice and find what awaits him, appeals to mod viewers.^[19]

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Too translated every bit Wanderer above the Mist, Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape,^[1] and other variants; Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer in German
2. ^ Friedrich left the artists he criticized unnamed; Werner Hofmann suggests that he might accept been attacking Joseph Anton Koch.^[fourteen]
3. ^ Such alleged German language unity in the 1500s was entirely imaginary, to be clear.^[fifteen]

References [edit]

1. ^ Arts Council of Great Great britain (1959). The romantic move. Fifth exhibition to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Council of Europe, 10 July to 27 September 1959, the Tate Gallery and the Arts Council Gallery, London. Hathi Trust. Arts Council of Great Great britain.
2. ^ Exhibition Catalogue: Caspar David Friedrich. Die Underling der Romantic in Essen ind Hamburg, Firmer Verlag, München (December 2006), folio 267
3. ^ ^{a b c} Gaddis, John Lewis (2004). "The Landscape of History". The Mural of History: How Historians Map the Past. Oxford University Press. pp. ane–2. ISBN0-19-517157-viii.
4. ^ ^{a b} Gorra, Michael Edward (2004). The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany . Princeton University Press. pp. 11-12. ISBN0-691-11765-nine. JSTOR j.ctt7sr5d.
5. ^ ^{a b} Grave, Johannes (2012). Caspar David Friedrich. Translated by Elliot, Fiona. Prestel. pp. 202–206. ISBN978-3-7913-4628-1.
6. ^ Hoch, Karl-Ludwig (1987). Caspar David Friedrich und die böhmischen Berge. Dresden: Kohlhammer Verlag. p. 215. ISBN978-3-17-009406-2.
7. ^ Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, UM 1817, Hamburger Kunsthalle
8. ^ Hofmann 2000, p. 286
9. ^ Gunderson, Jessica (2008). Romanticism. The Artistic Company. p. seven. ISBN978-i-58341-613-6.
10. ^ "A Closer Look at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich". drawpaintacademy.com. 10 Feb 2020.
11. ^ "Wanderer To a higher place the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich (Ca. 1817)." Scholastic Art
12. ^ ^{a b} Hofmann 2000, p. 33
13. ^ Hofmann 2000, pp. 10–12
14. ^ ^{a b} Hofmann 2000, pp. 258–260
15. ^ ^{a b c d e} Koerner, Joseph Leo (1995) [1990]. Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape. New Oasis: Yale University Press. p. 162–163; 179–194. ISBN0-300-06547-7.
16. ^ Borsch-Supan 2005, p. 116. Cited in Grave 2012, p. 203.
17. ^ Schmied, Wieland (1995) [1992]. Caspar David Friedrich. Translated past Stockman, Russel. New York: Harry North. Abrams Inc. p. 41. ISBN978-0-8109-3327-ix.
18. ^ Hofmann 2000, p. twenty
19. ^ ^{a b c} Hofmann, Werner (2000). Caspar David Friedrich. Translated by Whittall, Mary. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 9–13, 245–251, 260. ISBN0-500-09295-8.
20. ^ Genesis ii:6, Luther Bible.
21. ^ Macfarlane, Robert (2003). Mountains of the Mind: A History of a Fascination. Granta Books. p. 157. ISBN978-1-84708-039-iv.

External links [edit]

• Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, UM 1817, official page past the Hamburger Kunsthalle
• Sketches for the painting (in German)
• Idrobo, Carlos (November 2012). "He Who Is Leaving ... The Figure of the Wanderer in Nietzsche'south Too sprach Zarathustra and Caspar David Friedrich's Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer". Nietzsche-Studien. 41 (1): 78–103. doi:10.1515/niet.2012.41.1.78. S2CID 155017448. (Online) (Print).

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog

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