Art First major Caspar David Friedrich exhibition in New York
For the first time, the German painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) is being honored with a major exhibition in the USA. From Saturday until May 11, the renowned Metropolitan Museum in New York will be showing dozens of works by the Romantic painter.
04.02.2025, 04:00
SDA
"This is the moment for an American audience to see and understand Caspar David Friedrich," said museum director Max Hollein.
According to Hollein, the show, entitled "Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature", is dedicated to the way in which Friedrich explored landscapes spiritually and emotionally, shaping a "deep understanding of the position of the individual in relation to nature".
Dozens of works from over 40 years
"I am confident that this exhibition will make the name and work of Caspar David Friedrich known here in the USA - and that is very important," said the German ambassador to the USA, Andreas Michaelis. Despite his great importance in Germany, the painter is relatively unknown in America.
More than 75 works from 40 years of his career are now set to change this. The paintings, including "The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" and "Monk by the Sea", have been loaned to the US East Coast metropolis by the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Dresden State Art Collections and the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
"Wanderlust" and "Back Figure"
With the exhibition, the Met am Central Park also wants to explain Friedrich's techniques and concepts to its audience, whose landscape portraits and cityscapes are characterized by the deep connection between man and his environment. The description of the painting "Moonrise by the Sea", for example, is dedicated to the romantic idea of "wanderlust". The "back figure" - Friedrich's favorite position of the protagonists with their backs to the viewer - is also addressed in the show.
