Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) reimagined European landscape painting by portraying nature as a setting for profound spiritual and emotional encounters. Working in the vanguard of the German Romantic movement, which championed a radical new understanding of the bond between nature and the inner self, Friedrich developed pictorial subjects and strategies that emphasize the individuality, intimacy, open-endedness, and complexity of our responses to the natural world. The vision of the landscape that unfolds in his art—meditative, mysterious, and full of wonder—is still vital today.
Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature is the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the artist held in the United States. Organized in cooperation with the Alte Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and Hamburger Kunsthalle, with unprecedented loans from more than 30 lenders in Europe and North America, the exhibition presents approximately 75 works by Friedrich. Oil paintings, finished drawings, and working sketches from every phase of the artist’s career, along with select examples by his contemporaries, illuminate how Friedrich developed a symbolic vocabulary of landscape motifs to convey the personal and existential meanings that he discovered in nature. The exhibition situates Friedrich’s art within the tumultuous politics and vibrant culture of 19th-century German society and, by extension, highlights the role of German Romanticism in shaping modern perceptions of the natural world.
The exhibition is complemented by a display of artworks featuring lunar imagery in gallery 554, located just beyond the exhibition exit. The moon—a motif cherished by Caspar David Friedrich and other Romantic artists—was celebrated across various media, including paintings, porcelain, music, and poetry.
The exhibition is made possible by Marina Kellen French.
Additional support is provided by the Janice H. Levin Fund, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, Barbara A. Wolfe, an Anonymous Foundation, The International Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Trevor and Alexis Traina.
Corporate sponsorship is provided by Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and Allianz X.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The catalogue is made possible by the Wolfgang Ratjen Stiftung, Liechtenstein, and the Drue E. Heinz Fund.
Additional support is provided by the Tavolozza Foundation, Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt, and Elizabeth Marsteller Gordon.
Image: Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840),
