Caspar David Friedrich: a sublime retrospective

From 15 December 2023 to 01 April 2024, the Hamburger Kunsthalle presents the exhibition “Caspar David Friedrich: Art for a New Age”

Source: Hamburger Kunsthalle · Image: Caspar David Friedrich, ”Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer above the Sea of Fog), 1817. Oil on canvas,  94,8 x 74,8 cm. Dauerleihgabe der Stiftung Hamburger. Kunstsammlungen

To mark what would have been the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich (b. 1774 Greifswald – d. 1840 Dresden), the Hamburger Kunsthalle is presenting the anniversary exhibition Caspar David Friedrich: Art for a New Age. At the centre of the most comprehensive show in many years devoted to the foremost artist of German Romanticism is a thematic retrospective comprising over 50 paintings, among them a number of iconic key works, as well as around 90 drawings and selected works by Friedrich’s artist friends.

The main theme is the new relationship between human and nature evoked in Friedrich’s landscapes. In the first third of the nineteenth century, the artist broke new ground as he transformed the landscape genre into “art for a new age”. The enduring fascination of Friedrich’s oeuvre will be illustrated in a separate section of the exhibition that looks at his influence on contemporary art. Works by some 20 artists from Germany and abroad spanning various genres and media reveal diverse approaches to Friedrich’s central theme – how people deal with their environment. Notable here is just how topical the Romantic artist’s point of view is today in the age of climate change.

The exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle will mark the start of the Caspar David Friedrich Festival. To celebrate this anniversary year, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden will each dedicate a show to the artist, focusing on different themes. The three museums hold the world’s most important collections of Friedrich’s works. Through extensive reciprocal loans, this rich trove allows for unique presentations of different aspects of his work. The anniversary exhibitions marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich are taking place under the patronage of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.