Mountain Landscape with Rainbow

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Mountain Landscape with Rainbow
German: Gebirgslandschaft mit Regenbogen
Caspar David Friedrich 020.jpg
Artist Caspar David Friedrich
Year1809–10
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions70 cm× 102 cm(27.5 in× 40.1 in)
Location Museum Folkwang, Essen

Mountain Landscape with Rainbow (1809-10) (German : Gebirgslandschaft mit Regenbogen), is an oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. Depicting a traveler who has stopped to view a mountainous landscape with a rainbow shining above, the painting was inspired by Friedrich's travels through Germany and along the shores of the Baltic Sea in 1809. Influenced by the Romantic values of subjective experience, Friedrich portrays a figure enraptured by the sublimity of nature. [1]

Contents

In 1810, the painting was purchased together with other pictures by Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar. [2] Today, Mountain Landscape with Rainbow is held in the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany. [3]

Background

Friedrich was one of the leading artists of the German Romantic movement, which emphasized emotion, spirituality, and individual experience. [4] He believed subjectivity was an essential part of being an artist, writing "the artist's law is feeling. Pure feeling can never contradict nature but is always in harmony with her" and that it was important to "close your physical eye" and "see your painting with the spiritual eye." [5]

Gerhard von Kugelgen, Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1808 Gerhard von Kugelgen portrait of Friedrich.jpg
Gerhard von Kügelgen, Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1808

He is best known for his preoccupation with portraying the beauty and sublime power of nature through landscape paintings, often with a religious undercurrent. [6] As a devout Protestant, Friedrich was inspired by the writings of Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten (1758-1810), a pastor-poet who preached that divinity could be experienced through one’s personal experience of nature, in which the manifestation of God can be found. Kosegarten’s use of imagery directly inspired by the Baltic coast in his poems and sermons especially connected with Friedrich, who was born and raised in the German northeastern region of Pomerania, which borders the Baltic Sea. Friedrich channeled a similar religious reverence for nature into his paintings, such as The Monk by the Sea. He was recognized as a trailblazer in Romantic art for these works, which were said to have a distinct “Kosegartian effect” by German poet Heinrich von Kleist. [7]

Connected to his dedication to Romantic ideals such as individual experience and subjectivity, Friedrich is also famous for his use of the visual motif of the Rückenfigur in his landscape paintings, a figure in the foreground of the painting who turns his back toward the viewer and looks at nature. A famous example of this is in Friedrich’s 1818 painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog . The painting’s viewer is meant to identify with the Rückenfigur, as they are both spectators of the landscape. The Rückenfigur further defines the landscape as a perceived and experienced through an individual perspective rather than an objective one. [8]

Composition and analysis

In Mountain Landscape with Rainbow, Friedrich represents nature as a product of the artist’s individual inner experience of the world. He indicates this personal dimension by painting a Rückenfigur in the foreground with similar physical features to himself, a blond man with bushy facial hair. The Rückenfigur’s gaze is hidden, allowing the viewer to identify with him and understand the painting’s landscape is being seen through his lens. The way the landscape completely engulfs the figure in size on the canvas also implies a sublime experience of nature. [9]

The landscape is not a literal representation of ordinary nature. [10] The rainbow, for example, exists in direct contradiction with nature, for it can only appear when its light source is behind the viewer. In Mountain Landscape with Rainbow, there are two sources of light: one being the sun illuminating the man in the foreground and the other being the moon shining through the clouds above the rainbow. Neither light source is in a position where it could cause the rainbow. [11] Not only does this further characterize the landscape as a subjective personal experience of nature, but it also works to serve as a religious symbol.

The sharp contrast between the foreground and background—the illumination of the figure and the darkness of the mountainous valley—may symbolize the contradiction between two different planes of existence: the spiritual and physical. These two worlds are connected by a rainbow, which, according to Peter Russell, could be serving as an allusion to the rainbow in the Biblical account of Noah’s ark, representing the covenant between God and humanity. [12] Raymond Lee suggests that the pale colors are likely meant as a symbolic contrast to the foreboding darkness, a symbol of God’s peace and promise in a symbolic representation of the valley of death. [13] The rock the figure is leaning on may also contribute to the painting's religious themes, as Friedrich is known for using rocks to represent the solidity of Christian faith in his other paintings, such as in Cross in the Mountains . [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspar David Friedrich</span> German Romantic landscape painter (1774–1840)

Caspar David Friedrich was a German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his allegorical landscapes, which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. His primary interest was the contemplation of nature, and his often symbolic and anti-classical work seeks to convey a subjective, emotional response to the natural world. Friedrich's paintings characteristically set a human presence in diminished perspective amid expansive landscapes, reducing the figures to a scale that, according to the art historian Christopher John Murray, directs "the viewer's gaze towards their metaphysical dimension".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philipp Otto Runge</span> German painter (1777–1810)

Philipp Otto Runge was a German artist, draftsman, painter, and color theorist. Runge and Caspar David Friedrich are often regarded as the leading painters of the German Romantic movement. He is frequently compared with William Blake by art historians, although Runge's short ten-year career is not easy to equate to Blake's career. By all accounts he had a brilliant mind and was well versed in the literature and philosophy of his time. He was a prolific letter writer and maintained correspondences and friendships with contemporaries such as Carl Ludwig Heinrich Berger, Caspar David Friedrich, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Henrik Steffens, and Ludwig Tieck. His paintings are often laden symbolism and allegories. For eight years he planned and refined his seminal project, Tageszeiten, four monumental paintings 50 square meters each, which in turn were only part of a larger collaborative Gesamtkunstwerk that was to include poetry, music, and architecture, but remained unrealized at the time of his death. With it he aspired to abandon the traditional iconography of Christianity in European art and find a new expression for spiritual values through symbolism in landscapes. One historian stated "In Runge's painting we are clearly dealing with the attempt to present contemporary philosophy in art." He wrote an influential volume on color theory in 1808, Sphere of Colors, that was published the same year he died.

<i>Wanderer above the Sea of Fog</i> Oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is a painting by German Romanticist artist Caspar David Friedrich made in 1818. It depicts a man standing upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer; he is gazing out on a landscape covered in a thick sea of fog through which other ridges, trees, and mountains pierce, which stretches out into the distance indefinitely.

<i>The Stages of Life</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

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<i>The Monk by the Sea</i> 1808–1810 painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Monk by the Sea is an oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. It was painted between 1808 and 1810 in Dresden and was first shown together with the painting The Abbey in the Oakwood in the Berlin Academy exhibition of 1810. On Friedrich's request The Monk by the Sea was hung above The Abbey in the Oakwood. After the exhibition, both pictures were bought by king Frederick Wilhelm III for his collection. Today, the paintings hang side by side in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

<i>The Abbey in the Oakwood</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Abbey in the Oakwood is an oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich. It was painted between 1809 and 1810 in Dresden and was first shown together with the painting The Monk by the Sea in the Prussian Academy of Arts exhibition of 1810. On Friedrich's request The Abbey in the Oakwood was hung beneath The Monk by the Sea. This painting is one of over two dozen of Friedrich's works that include cemeteries or graves.

<i>The Sea of Ice</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Sea of Ice, (1823–1824), is an oil painting that depicts a shipwreck in the Arctic by the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich. Before 1826 this painting was known as The Polar Sea.

<i>The Tree of Crows</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Tree of Crows is an oil painting of 1822 by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. Acquired by the Musée du Louvre in 1975, it has been called one of Friedrich's "most compelling paintings." The painting depicts a twisted oak tree, bare but for a few dead leaves, seen against an evening sky. An inscription on the back of the canvas refers to the hill at the painting's center as a Hünengrab, or dolmen, a prehistoric burial ground. In the distance can be seen the ocean, and Cape Arkona's chalk cliffs, a favorite subject of Friedrich's. Two crows are perched on the oak, while a flock descends toward it. In the darkened foreground are a hacked trunk and the upright stump of another oak.

<i>Two Men Contemplating the Moon</i> Series of paintings by Caspar David Friedrich

Two Men Contemplating the Moon and Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon are a series of similar paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, the setting being among his best-known works. Friedrich painted at least three versions, with one variation featuring a man and a woman. The 1819–20 version in the Galerie Neue Meister is thought to be the original; the c. 1824 variant with a woman is in the Alte Nationalgalerie; and the c. 1830 version is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<i>View from Stalheim</i> 1842 oil painting by Johan Christian Dahl

View from Stalheim is an 1842 oil painting by Johan Christian Dahl of the mountainous view from Stalheim, Voss, Hordaland. It is a major work of Romantic nationalism and has become a national icon. It is regarded as one of Dahl's best works.

<i>Cairn in Snow</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Cairn in Snow, also known as Dolmen in the snow, is a landscape painting by the German painter Caspar David Friedrich. Friedrich is noted for his landscapes depicting features such as trees or Gothic ruins, silhouetted against the sky or in morning mists. The painting depicts leafless trees in the winter snow, with the tops of two of the trees broken off and the third bent by the prevailing wind, giving the work a haunted, spectral air. It is a Romantic allegorical landscape, depicting a stone cairn or dolmen set amid three oak trees on a hilltop, with a contemplative melancholy mood. It was probably painted around 1807, making it among Friedrich's first oil paintings. It measures 61 by 80 centimetres and has been held by the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden since 1905.

<i>The Lonely Tree</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Lonely Tree is an 1822 oil-on-canvas painting by German painter Caspar David Friedrich. It measures 55 × 71 centimetres (22 × 28 in). The work depicts a panoramic view of a romantic landscape of plains with mountains in the background. A solitary oak tree dominates the foreground.

<i>Rückenfigur</i> Figure seen from behind in art

The Rückenfigur is a compositional device in painting, graphic art, photography, and film. A person is seen from behind in the foreground of the image, contemplating the view before them, and is a means by which the viewer can identify with the image's figure and then recreate the space to be conveyed. It is commonly associated with German Romantic painting and particularly the landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich. In art historical research, it is debated whether the Rückenfigur actually invites identification or rather encourages second-order observation.

<i>Cross in the Mountains</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Cross in the Mountains, also known as the Tetschen Altar, is an oil painting by the German artist Caspar David Friedrich designed as an altarpiece. Among Friedrich's first major works, the 1808 painting marked an important break with the conventions of landscape painting by including Christian iconography. In the hierarchy of genres, religious (history) painting was considered the highest genre of art; Friedrich's use of landscape to evoke a spiritual message was thus controversial, causing debate between proponents of neoclassical ideals and the new German Romanticism of Friedrich and his peers.

<i>Morning on the Riesengebirge</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Morning on the Riesengebirge is an 1810-1811 painting by Caspar David Friedrich of a scene on the Riesengebirge. It was exhibited at the Dresden Academy, where it attracted significant public attention. The painting was then acquired in 1811 by Frederick William III of Prussia for Unter den Linden, his Berlin palace, where it remained until 1837, when it was moved to the New Palace in Potsdam.

<i>Woman at a Window</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Woman at a Window is an 1822 oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. This painting is currently located in Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. The painting depicts an interior with a woman, seen from behind, peering out an opened window. Beyond the window, the masts of ships are visible. The woman in the piece is Friedrich's wife Caroline and the view from the window is from his studio overlooking the Elbe river in Dresden. Friedrich submitted his work to be exhibited at the Dresden Academy, however he did not complete the piece in time to be in the main exhibition.

<i>The Woman with the Spiders Web</i>

The Woman with the Spider's Web is a small c. 1803 print by the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, made into a woodcut the same year by his brother Christian Friedrich, a carpenter and furniture maker.

<i>The Great Enclosure</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Great Enclosure or The Ostra Enclosure (Ostra-Gehege) is an 1831 oil-on-canvas painting by Caspar David Friedrich, now in the collection of the Albertinum of the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden.

<i>Huttens Grave</i>

Hutten's Grave (1823) is an oil on canvas painting by Caspar David Friedrich, showing a man in Lützow Free Corps uniform standing by the grave of the Renaissance humanist and German nationalist Ulrich von Hutten. Influenced heavily by the political climate of the time and Friedrich's own political beliefs, the painting is one of Friedrich's most political works and affirms his allegiance to the German nationalist movement. The painting was made to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Hutten's death and the 10th anniversary of Napoleon's invasion of Germany.

<i>The Temple of Juno in Agrigento</i> Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

The Temple of Juno in Agrigento is an 1828-1830 oil on canvas painting of by Caspar David Friedrich. It is now in the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Dortmund, which bought it from a Cologne art dealer in 1951. It is said to have been previously owned by the F. A. Brockhaus publishers in Leipzig.

References

  1. ↑ Russell, Peter (2016). Delphi Complete Paintings of Caspar David Friedrich (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN   9781786565006.
  2. ↑ Grave, Johannes (2017). Caspar David Friedrich (2nd ed.). London/New York: Prestel. p. 120. ISBN   978-3-7913-8357-6.
  3. ↑ "Friedrich, Caspar David", Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford University Press, 2011-10-31, doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00068386 , retrieved 2022-11-17
  4. ↑ Chu, Petra ten-Doesschate (2010). Nineteenth Century European Art (3rd ed.). Pearson. pp. 161–162. ISBN   978-0205707997.
  5. ↑ "Friedrich, Caspar David", Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford University Press, 2011-10-31, doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00068386 , retrieved 2022-11-17
  6. ↑ Russell, Peter (2016). Delphi Complete Paintings of Caspar David Friedrich (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN   9781786565006.
  7. ↑ Chu, Petra ten-Doesschate (2010). Nineteenth-century European art (3rd ed.). Pearson. p. 173. ISBN   9780205707997. OCLC   624045291.
  8. ↑ Koerner, Joseph Leo (2009). Caspar David Friedrich and the subject of landscape (2nd ed.). London: Reaktion Books. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-86189-750-3. OCLC   671655983.
  9. ↑ Koerner, Joseph Leo (2009). Caspar David Friedrich and the subject of landscape (2nd ed.). London: Reaktion Books. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-86189-750-3. OCLC   671655983.
  10. ↑ Russell, Peter (2016). Delphi Complete Paintings of Caspar David Friedrich (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN   9781786565006.
  11. ↑ Lee, Raymond L. (2001). The rainbow bridge : rainbows in art, myth, and science. Alistair B. Fraser. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN   0-271-01977-8. OCLC   41951270.
  12. ↑ Russell, Peter (2016). Delphi Complete Paintings of Caspar David Friedrich (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN   9781786565006.
  13. ↑ Lee, Raymond L. (2001). The rainbow bridge : rainbows in art, myth, and science. Alistair B. Fraser. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN   0-271-01977-8. OCLC   41951270.
  14. ↑ Chu, Petra ten-Doesschate (2010). Nineteenth-century European art (3rd ed.). Pearson. p. 175. ISBN   9780205707997. OCLC   624045291.

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