Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich (Interpretation and Analysis)

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Source: Wikipedia

Over the past couple of days we’ve been talking about Romanticism, so, today, I want to talk about the quintessential Romantic painting: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich.

If you’ve ever enrolled in an art history class, this was probably the painting you saw when the instructor introduced the idea of Romanticism. It checks all the boxes for Romantic art: dramatic landscapes, celebration of natural beauty, emphasis on individualism, and focus on emotion and the inner life of the artist. As a movement, Romanticism was a reaction against the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Painters like Caspar David Friedrich sought authenticity and spiritual fulfillment by exploring their own psyches with the goal of tapping into a higher emotional truth. Friedrich himself said:

The artist's feeling is his law.

All of this is present in Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. As in Gauguin’s Day of the God, the painting portrays a psychological landscape as much as it does a physical one. Romantic and Gothic literature — poetry in particular — is full of descriptions of how nature influences emotion and vice versa. Here, the fog both represents and mirrors the contemplative mood of the artist, who is shown looking down over the clouds. The movement of the wind across the canvas creates visual drama, contributing to the sense of a heightened emotional state. The painting celebrates the natural world; however, the focus is on the artist as an individual, celebrating his emotional reality.

Of course, the Romantic movement was only possible because of the shift away from the patronage system. Although many paintings were still commissioned in the 19th century, and continue to commissioned to this day, it was increasingly more common for artists to create work for the sake of satisfying themselves, as opposed to a patron. From the Medieval period to the modern age, there has been a slow and steady shift from viewing painting as a product produced by a skilled craftsperson — much in the same way a carpenter might produce a chair or table — to a means of self expression that reflects the artist as an individual. Romanticism owes its existence to this paradigm shift.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.