Romanticism: Gemma Yim talks on Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the sea of mist, 1818.

Title: Wanderer above the sea of mist 

Artist: Caspar David Friedrich 

Completion date: 1817/1818

Material: oil/canvas 

Dimension: 74.8x94.8cm

Caspar David Friedrich, a significant and awe-inspiring figure in the Romantic period, once said, 

The pure, frank sentiments we hold in our hearts are the only truthful sources of art. A painting which does not take its inspiration from the heart is nothing more than futile juggling. All authentic art is conceived at a sacred moment and nourished in a blessed hour; an inner impulse creates it, often without the artist being aware of it. (Jansen, 2005)

According to his words, art itself is more a design than spirit, like an echo from heart. Compared with the art form, the feeling and inspiration of the artist is more important to express the moment of awe and truth and it is clearly shown in all of Friedrich’s painting. In fact, looking at all paintings of Friedrich, it always embraces a high presence of nature and, more specifically, God. In the view of many scholars and art curators, Friedrich’s painting is almost religious, encircled by a heavy sense of philosophy and belief, especially with his background as a protestant. To further study Friedrich’s aesthetic world, the following will analyze a piece of Friedrich’s work, A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist, in terms of its style, historical context and commentary from other artists and scholars. In general, my objective in the following paper is to show the aesthetic and historical context of Friedrich’s work, especially the sense of sublimity and beauty reflected in the painting A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist.

Firstly, regarding to the style of the painting, A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist is an iconic piece of Romantic artwork. What the style of Romanism really is, according to the definition of scholars Duro and Greenhalgh, “Romanticism rejected the universalizing rules of Classicism in favour of an emphasis on the individual imagination, the relationship of the individual to nature, the expression of emotion and a profoundly subjective approach to beauty” (Duro and Greenhalgh, 1992). Hence, with the above features, we can classify the painting as a Romantic artwork with the sense of individuality and sublimity emphasized in its content, composition and colour tone. To begin with its content, the objects chosen in the painting suggests a sense of awe and sublimity. With the presence of the rocky mountains, the mist, the sky and the man, the infinite scenery, the stillness of time and the back view of the men, in some sense, implies the connection between the nature and human, leading the viewer to study the painting in a more philosophical way, like a meditation. Also, with layers of mist, the contour of the objects is rather blurry and unclear, giving a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability to the viewers. Not only does it suggests the vulnerability of men in front of the nature, but also triggers a sense of awe and sublimity to the nature and also God.

In term of the composition of the painting, Friedrich constructed an intriguing setting with the clever arrangement of objects. First of all, instead of painting horizontally as many others he portrayed, he chose to make the painting drawn vertically, which enhances the upright position of the wanderer shown in the painting. Also, there are several diagonal lines that point towards the man himself, including the contour of the mountains on the right and the left, which constructs two diagonal lines and both come to the vanishing point, ending with the wanderer. Besides, as the fog swirls around in the background, it brings the viewer back to the presence of the rocky mountain which the man is standing, going a diagonal line up towards the man. Among all, the most intriguing part is the back view of the man that he face is hidden to the viewers. With those diagonal lines constructed and pointed to the center, the view is in fact concealed by the back view of the men. On one hand, it allow the viewers to imagine the emotion and facial expression of the man, which is probably amazed and awed by the nature and the infinite scenery. On the other hand, the blockage of the man also invite the viewer and recreate the natural scenery with their own imagination, filling the hidden part with their own creativity. This also encourages individual imagination and emotion filled in the painting. Hence, subject to the individual imagination and feeling to the painting, different people may have different version of the natural scenery ahead of the wanderer. Even so, some scholars also have different interpretation to the back view of the wanderer. Instead of inviting the viewer to imagine their own version of natural scenery ahead of the man, some claims that the center of the painting is actually the wanderer himself who climb to the top of the mountain and face the nature with pride and self-recognition. Yet, scholars still commonly view it as an invitation than an emphasis on human ego, especially with the taller mountains far ahead of the wanderer.

For the colour tone used in the painting, it emphasizes a sense of harmony between the nature and human with the soft colours of the sky, the wanderer and the mountains. To analyze the colour element in the painting, it is dominated by a shade of blue and element of red and yellow is much less prominent. Also, even for the clothing of the wanderer, it is also dark blue, matching with the dark colour of the rock he is standing. As shown, all colour used in the painting is harmonious to each other, giving a sense of calm and unity in the whole picture. Besides, the dominance of blue in the painting also suggests a sense of confusion and gloom. Even though it is not necessarily implied that the painter is sad or depressed owing to its situation, the hint of confusion strengthens a sense of sublimity and the stillness of time. And as mentioned, soft colours used in the painting, in some sense, shows the unity of the nature and human as a whole, implying the strong bond between human, nature and God.

Furthermore, speaking of the historical context of the painting, the sense of individuality and sublimity is embedded in the art in Friedrich owing to a web of historical factors, included the Enlightenment movement and the Napoleonic War. For the influence of the Enlightenment movement, since the mid-17^th century, there was a new wave of philosophy prevailing in Europe, called as the age of enlightenment, which emphasized reason, analysis and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority. Under the critics of philosophers like John Locke, Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, it greatly challenged the traditional hierarchy in society, dominated by the absolute monarchy and the religious privileges. Hence, with the rational reasoning and the question to the existing political and social system, it helped the emergence of ideas like individualism and afterwards, freedom and liberty, paving way for the rise of Romanticism in the 18^th century. Among all philosophers in this period, a German philosopher, Immanuel Kant influenced the philosophy in Germany greatly. Apart from promoting the idea of reason and analyze, Kant also introduce his aesthetic philosophy regarding to beauty and sublimity in art. According his book Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime published in 1764, it is divided into four sections and, in the first section of his book, Kant focus on discussing the feelings of the beautiful and the sublime, which, on one hand, feeling of beauty related to “a pleasant sensation but one that is joyous and smiling" On the other hand, feelings of sublimity “arouse enjoyment but with horror" (Immanuel and Patrick, 2011) As shown, the enlightenment advocate the idea od individualism and sublimity and these ideas is clearly shown in the painting of Friedrich, especially in A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist as discussed earlier.

Moreover, speaking of the influence of the Napoleonic War, during the devastating war from 1799 to 1815, a lot of young men were sent to the battlefield to fight against the aggression of Napoleon, included the Germanian states. After the war, even temporary peace was granted under the revision of the traditional monarchy, the Germanian states were still recovering from the savage of the war. Under this circumstance, since Germany was not yet an established nation and have a clear vision of their future, German in that period shared the sense of uncertainty and worry about their future. The worst seems to have passed but the future was still so misty. Thus, shown in the painting A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist, the wanderer seems to climb up to the top of the hill and look out to future and question, what is our future vision? Hence, with the background of the devastating war and the nation building process enhances the feeling in the painting with the sense of confusion and ambiguity. Even though the imagination of the viewers about the hidden scenery is rather subjective, the uncertainty is clearly projected from the misty view in the painting.

In conclusion, Friedrich’s A Wanderer above the Sea of Mist projects a heavy sense of Romanticism with the composition, object used and colour tones of the painting and it provides a vast space for individual imagination. As a Romantic artwork, this painting can always connect the viewer with the emotion created in the picture owing to the sense of stillness and individuality. When we look at the piece in different time period, it touches our soul with the different imagined scenery created in the hidden space. Even though it is an old piece of artwork that drew over 200 years ago, it is always new to look at and appreciate.

Reference:

1. Börsch-Supan, Helmut, Caspar David Friedrich, (München: Prestel, c1990)

2. Wolf, Norbert, Caspar David Friedrich,1774-1840 : the painter of stillness, (Köln ; London : Taschen, c2003)

3. Siegei, Linda, “Synesthesia and the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich”, Art Journal, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Spring 1974), pp.196-204 

4. Prager, Brad, "Kant in Caspar David Friedrich's Frame", Art History, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Feb 2002), pp 68-86

5. Greenhalgh, Michael, and Paul Duro, Essential Art History, (London: Bloomsbury, 1992), pp 257.

6. Jansen, "Culture Art Culture: Caspar D. Friedrich and the Wasteland." Bits of News, March 3, 2005, accessed on 03, April, 2015, http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/154/42/

7. Kant, Immanuel, and Patrick R. Frierson, Immanuel Kant: Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime and Other Writings, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp.26, 47

8. Brose, Eric Dorn, "A Revolutionary Challenge", In German History, 1789-1871: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Bismarckian Reich, (R.I.: Berghahn Books, 1997), pp. 62-79

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