DK Art Caspar David Friedrich: German Master of the Romantic Landscape--His Life in Paintings

by Caspar David Friedrich

An inspired yet haunted genius, Caspar David Friedrich captures the solitude of man, powerless in the mystery and bleakness of nature. Find out how this great 19th-century Romantic painter created works of intense beauty in the face of personal tragedy. The DK ArtBook series presents both the life and works of each artist within the cultural, social, and political context of their time. To make the books easy to consult, they are divided into three areas -- the life and works of the artist, historical and cultural background, and analysis of major works -- which are identifiable by side bands. Each spread focuses on a specific theme, with an introductory text and several annotated illustrations. Few art history texts contain such abundance of full-color illustrations. The index section is also illustrated and gives background information on key figures and the location of the artist's works.

Genres: Art

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Caspar David Friedrich (5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation.

Reviews

[Holly Lindquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

C. D. Friedrich was a landscape artist who specialized in gloom-shrouded forests, mysterious ruins, lonely graves in the wilderness, moonlight, and ethereal cloudscapes. Also, the man could paint an oak tree like nobody's business. His human figures are anonymous worshipers dwarfed by the cathedral of creation (The Monk on the Seashore is a perfect example of this.) I wish we had more of his work (some of it was destroyed in the bombing of Dresden). Anyway, this little book makes for a decent introduction. As usual with DK, the format is engaging and informative, and helpful sidenotes are provided on contemporary artists and important events of the period.