Creator story
Surprising fact
Friedrich often painted his figures from behind, gazing into the distance, so that we see not their faces but what they see.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaRomanticism
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) was the foremost painter of German Romanticism, who turned landscape into a vessel for the soul. His Wanderer above the Sea of Fog has become the very image of human solitude before nature.
Friedrich made nature a mirror of inner feeling, deeply influencing Symbolism and modern landscape art.
- Painted Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, the emblem of Romantic solitude.
- Used the figure seen from behind to draw the viewer into the scene.
- Charged landscapes with spiritual and religious meaning.
Key works
A key work by Caspar David Friedrich
These works make it easiest to see how the artist changed form, content, and the very way art could exist in culture.
1818
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is a painting by German Romanticist artist Caspar David Friedrich in 1818.