Romantic Painting by Caspar Friedrich Essay

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Medium

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818) by Caspar David Friedrich is an oil-on-canvas Romantic Movement representation of a young man metaphorically rising above the uncertainty of the world around him and transcending to a height that puts if not clarity on all things at least some perspective for the imagination. The painting literally depicts a young wanderer or hiker in the center of the frame, back to the viewer, as he gazes out over a rocky precipice to the valley before him, where rock structures stick up out of the surrounding fog. The fog, indeed, appears like waves of the sea crashing upon the rocks below, giving the young man the look of a solitary captain, aloft at the promontory peak of a ship as it makes its way through the dangerous straits ahead. The painting thus blurs the concept of sea, land and fog in a way that gives the work the ability to raise various interpretations among viewers. That the work is Romantic, however, is without doubt, as the style is thoroughly consistent with the idea of individualism, nature, emotion and the grandeur of thought (Johnson, 2003; Koerner, 2009). The painting symbolizes in a sense the landscape of the mind -- one part shrouded in mystery that resembles a turbulent sea, another part isolated and looking in at itself (the young man staring out over the mist-encased vale).

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Composition

The focal area of the painting is the solitary figure at the center, framed by the surrounding fog. Both he and the rock promontory upon which he stands are darkened (his clothing consists of a longish black coat/pants and walking stick). He thus stands out against the bluish-white backdrop -- but literally none of his facial features are revealed: he appears to be as lost in thought as the world before him is lost in fog. The distant peaks at eye level mark the horizon and two lines of the valley draw inward and slope downward on either side of the man, converging in his middle and giving the painting a focus with regard to use of line. The lines of the valley draw the eyes down and in towards the man and the man, hoisted upon the triangular promontory of rocks below allows the eye movement to transfer back out and then around to the valley lines once more. Thus, line is very effective….....

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