MdbK [guide]: CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH AND THE DÜSSELDORF ROMANTICISTS (English Version)

Today, the landscape paintings of Caspar David Friedrich are
considered to be some of the most important of the German Romantic
period. However, at the time they were created, Friedrich’s
contemplative and tranquil style was often poorly received.
Although Friedrich initially found favour among a number of
prominent collectors, the Dresden artist soon became overshadowed
by painters of the Düsseldorf School. Indeed, it was the Düsseldorf
School’s co-founder, Carl Friedrich Lessing, who eventually became
the undisputed “star” of German landscape painting. Such a
development not only illustrated a change in artistic tastes, but
also a fundamental transformation in how people perceived art’s
role in society. Caspar David Friedrich still believed that his
paintings should serve as a mediator between the viewer and the
divine. Whereas the contrasting view saw art as autonomous, serving
only itself. It was the latter view which eventually prevailed –
and it wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that Friedrich
began to be re-evaluated and finally acknowledged as one of the
greats in art history. Yet for all their differences, there was
still much that united Caspar David Friedrich with the landscape
painters of the Düsseldorf School: not least in terms of their
motifs, which ran from Gothic ruins to scenes bathed in moonlight.
The exhibition at the MdbK aims to show you how the painters of the
Düsseldorf School initially adopted Friedrich’s style – only to
then go their own way within the wider Romantic movement. In order
to make the similarities and differences between Friedrich and the
Düsseldorfers as tangible as possible, we’ll be comparing paintings
of the two styles throughout this tour. The exhibition CASPAR DAVID
FRIEDRICH AND THE DÜSSELDORF ROMANTICISTS is a collaboration
between the MdbK and the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf.