Art History Gallery: Friedrich, Monk by the Sea
Figure 1: Monk by the Sea; Caspar David Friedrich; Romanticism; 1808/1810; Germany
Monk by the Sea is spectacular artwork befitting art pieces I regard as simple sophistication. It was bought by the king after its first exhibition but is currently available at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Germany. As portrayed in figure 1, the painting contains an empty landscape, a blue sky, and a green sea (Monk by the Sea, n.d.). I admire how the land is beige with a man in a monk robe standing at the edge. His clothing stretches out as he looks away from the viewer. The painter used varied strokes of paint to create the birds and other waves (Pollitt, n.d.). The dune in the land produces a contrasting effect between it and the sea. As such, he employed colors to express his minimalistic yet beautiful art piece. Using a reductive process, Friedrich eliminates some of the objects he drew in the original painting hence leaving on the essential elements in the drawing. Additionally, the painter ignores the traditional views of landscapes and allows individuals to gain different perspectives and emotions from the painting (Cahen-Maurel, 2019). The structure is uneven, and the viewer has to assume the sublimity of the art.
Contemporary theorists view the Monk as being unable to decipher his environment due to the void created by the painter. Consequently, Friedrich uses the mood in his artwork to fulfill the demands for Romanticism by focusing his painting on the correlation between human beings and their environments. This movement drew people back to their identities in a bid for renewal and the promotion of democracy and transcendence. Friedrich reminds art lovers that they can use their intuition rather than an order to create outstanding artworks. Hence, painters should value their work and integrate it with various forms of creativity. When successful, they should make it a priority to inspire others to follow their footsteps.
References
Cahen-Maurel, L. (2019). The Simplicity of the Sublime. A New Picturing of Nature in Caspar David.
Monk by the Sea – Caspar David Friedrich – Google Arts & Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/monk-by-the-sea-caspar-david-friedrich/KwEv_TMiJhn5kA?hl=en
Pollitt, B. (n.d.). Friedrich, Monk by the sea (article). Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-germany/a/friedrich-monk-by-the-sea