Caspar David Friedrich Biography

Caspar David Friedrich was a German Romantic landscape painter, considered one of the leading figures of the German Romantic movement. Also counted as one of the most important artists of his generation, he is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes and seascapes that portray how humans are helpless against the forces of nature. Friedrich was born in the town of Greifswald on the Baltic coast in what was at the time known as Swedish Pomerania. He studied in Copenhagen before he settled in Dresden. He grew up during a period when the European society was growing increasingly disillusioned with materialism and gaining a new appreciation of spirituality. He studied at the Copenhagen Academy, which was one of the most progressive art schools of the time. His first important oil painting was ‘The Cross in the Mountains’, which was characterized by an overwhelming sense of stillness and isolation. Over the course of his career, Friedrich helped landscape painting become a major genre within western art. He has also inspired many other artists such as Arnold Bocklin and Johan Christian.