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the sky. The jagged branches and stark contrasts seem to create a threatening environment for the figures, and are reminiscent of the imposing Gothic style seen originally in the medieval era, but revived in the
Romantic era. The same can be said of the dark, shadowy trees and rocks surrounding the couple. The figures themselves are dressed in dark colors and stiff, somewhat formal garments, which also serve to signify their higher class. The works emphasize spirituality in nature and the presence of the sublime, which are major themes of Friedrich.
264:, the first owner of the (presumed) earliest version, Friedrich painted an unknown number of copies, and others also copied the picture. Several versions are extant today, but their dating and authorship has not been positively determined; discussion of the question was revived in 1991. Apart from Dahl's copy (now in Dresden), there is a version in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, dated 1825–1830. In addition to the closer adherence to the golden section, the Dresden version is truer to Friedrich's preparatory sketches from nature.
225:, in line with older readings of the artist that insist on spiritual messages behind natural forms, sees the geometric layout as signalling the transcendent message of the two figures' experience of nature. As in many paintings by Friedrich, there is no middle ground; the foreground earthly scene is contrasted with the lighted sky and the abyss at the two men's feet made perceptible through this contrast, which exemplifies the antithetical relationship of rational, palpable earthly space and irrational and sublime infinity explored by the
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214:. The scene is framed by an uprooted and moss-grown oak on their right, whose branches reach out to those of a spruce on their left; a boulder prevents the oak from falling, and there is another boulder on the left. In the background the landscape falls away; the tops of pine trees suggest a forest. In the immediate foreground are a tree stump and a large dry branch lying on the ground. The painting is almost monochromatic in shades of brown and grey, depicting nightfall.
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Friedrich's wife
Caroline; however, in 1819, Heinrich was 25 but Bommer only 18. In the variant with a man and a woman, Caroline Friedrich would then be the woman. Two art historians of the early twentieth century also proposed locations. Max Semrau located Friedrich and his friend Benjamin Friedrich Gotthelf Kummer on a cliff on the island of
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In this painting, the man and woman face away from the viewer, centered vertically, and located left of center horizontally. The woman's arm is resting on the man's shoulder. The serene and contemplative pose of the couple contrasts with the contortions of the half uprooted oak tree, which is itself
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interprets the evergreen spruce and the dead oak as symbols of the
Christian worldview and defeated paganism, respectively, the path as the path of life and the waxing moon as Christ. The oak has traditionally represented history and transience, the evergreen fir-tree, the constantly renewing power
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With its softly melancholy mood, the painting epitomises the
Romantic view of nature. The two meditative figures, seen almost entirely from the rear, serve as representatives of the observer, who is left to contemplate what they are seeing and supply a meaning. In addition to the Romantic mysticism
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feature two figures in a dark forest silhouetted by a pastel sky. The works' dark foregrounds and lighter backgrounds create a sharp contrast. The sky suggests that the time is around dusk, with the waxing crescent moon close to setting. A dead, uprooted tree's dark roots and branches contrast with
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recounts in his memoirs that on a visit to the artist's studio in
Dresden on 9 April 1820, Friedrich showed him the painting and said, with irony, as if in explanation, "They are fomenting demagogic intrigues". Many of Friedrich's paintings feature people in this political costume, suggesting he
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in Berlin and in a private collection in
Switzerland. The art historian Kaspar Monrad suggests that this may be the first version of the theme, and thus would predate early 1818, when the Danish writer Peder Hjort reported obtaining such a painting from Friedrich. In addition to substituting the
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The two men depicted may be
Friedrich himself, on the right, and his pupil August Heinrich (1794–1822) on the left; Friedrich's friend Wilhelm Wegener gave this interpretation. Dahl agreed that the younger man was Heinrich but identified the older as Christian Wilhelm Bommer, the brother of
305:. Dahl had obtained the painting from Friedrich in exchange for a work of his own. The painting in Berlin of a man and a woman was at the Salomon art dealership in Dresden in 1922. In 1932 it was shown at the Paul Cassirer gallery in Berlin on loan from the collection of Lulu Böhler in
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in opposition with the verticality of the lush pine tree on the left. This irregular and asymmetrical pictorial construction—one linked with the post-Baroque aesthetic of the previous century—was fairly rare in
Friedrich's work, often characterized by regular geometric arrangements.
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and has a stick in his right hand. The man on the left is somewhat higher on the path and is leaning on his companion's shoulder; he is slimmer and is wearing a grey-green frock-coat, from which a white collar protrudes, and the black cap of an early
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in many details: the stump is broken rather than sawed, as it is in the
Dresden version, the dead branch has been omitted, the tops of the trees on the right are higher, and decisively, the walking stick has been omitted, although
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The paintings depicts a foreground scene of two people on a mountain path, which leads up from the centre bottom of the picture to the left. The man on the right is wearing a grey-green cape and the black beret of the
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of the tension between the palpable world and the unending cosmos, three additional contrasting interpretations have been presented, in terms of religion, politics and biography.
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in the ratios between the central vertical axis, the perpendicular axis between it and the star, and the other axis running through the older man's eye. The German art historian
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of nature. The uprooted tree may represent death, yet its contrast with the clear, bright sky represents hope, eternal life, and closeness to the sublime, or Christ.
144:, the setting being among his best-known works. Friedrich painted at least three versions, with one variation featuring a man and a woman. The 1819–20 version in the
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of 1819, coinciding with the creation of the work. Friedrich himself pointed to the importance of this political aspect in interpreting the work;
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301:(Moonlit Landscape: Two Male Figures Observing the Rising Half-Moon); he sold it to the Royal Art Gallery in Dresden in 1840 for 80
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intended a political message against their suppression; however, the sketches and most of the paintings predate the ban.
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Two Men
Contemplating the Moon by Caspar David Friedrich (Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden)
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Werner Busch, "Zum Verständnis und Interpretation romantischer Kunst", in: Werner Busch
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examination reveals two lines indicating where the artist had planned to include it.
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Caspar David Friedrich, der Greifswalder Maler. Bilder aus Greifswalds Vergangenheit
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Börsch-Supan, Helmut. “Caspar David Friedrich's Landscapes with Self-Portraits.”
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Biographische und literarische Skizzen aus dem Leben und der Zeit Karl Förster's
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Mondscheinlandschaft. Zwei männliche Figuren betrachten den aufgehenden Halbmond
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The Dresden version is generally held to be the original. It exemplifies the
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The painting in the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden was included in 1830 in
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figure of a woman for the man on the left, the Berlin version differs from
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35 cm Ă— 44.5 cm (14 in Ă— 17.5 in)
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is thought to be the original; the c. 1824 variant with a woman is in the
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Caspar David Friedrich. Gemälde, Druckgraphik und bildmäßige Zeichnungen
438:"Old romantics tug at the heart Untitled (After Caspar David Friedrich)"
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Paintings of the variant image of a man and woman observing the Moon (
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Two Men Contemplating the Moon; Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
309:, and it was bought that year by the Alte Nationalgalerie from the
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Baltic Light: Early Open-Air Painting in Denmark and North Germany
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Johnston, Catherine, Helmut R. Leppien, and Kasper Monrad.
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Kasper Monrad, "Friedrich and Two Danish Moonwatchers", in
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Caspar David Friedrich: The Spirit of Romantic Painting
592:, ed. Sabine Rewald, Exhibition catalogue, New York:
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271:), dated between 1818 and 1835, are located in the
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596:/ New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University, 2001,
540:Acta der Königl. Gemäldegallerie betr. 1840–1844
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463:Caspar David Friedrich. Ă„sthetik und Religion
16:Series of paintings by Caspar David Friedrich
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1229:Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
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1178:Boundaries of Time: Caspar David Friedrich
1092:Ruins of Eldena Abbey in the Riesengebirge
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237:; Max Sauerlandt, the same two men in the
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734:. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
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700:, Arte Fakten, Annweiler: Plöger, 1987,
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747:114, no. 834 (September 1972): 620–630.
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375:List of works by Caspar David Friedrich
356:worn by both men was banned under the
1234:Paintings in the Alte Nationalgalerie
1219:Paintings in the Galerie Neue Meister
538:, letter to the Saxon Royal Gallery,
140:are a series of similar paintings by
131:Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes
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1170:Caspar David Friedrich in his Studio
786:Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
615:Caspar David Friedrich: Der Watzmann
590:Caspar David Friedrich: Moonwatchers
246:Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
176:Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
152:; and the c. 1830 version is in the
137:Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
88:Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
1209:Paintings by Caspar David Friedrich
398:"Heilbronn Timeline of Art History"
491:, 5th ed. Leipzig: Seemann, 1990,
269:Mann und Frau den Mond betrachtend
210:. The Moon's night side is lit by
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188:Image description and composition
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683:Börsch-Supan and Jähnig, p. 433.
523:Börsch-Supan and Jähnig, p. 356.
465:Munich: Beck, 2003, p. 179
1135:The Woman with the Spider's Web
1076:The Temple of Juno in Agrigento
900:Mountain Landscape with Rainbow
559:, Greifswald, 1917, p. 19
429:". Helnwein Museum. Reprint of
178:, said "This was the source of
1143:Woman with a Raven at an Abyss
794:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
778:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
594:The Metropolitan Museum of Art
542:, VII, No. 35, pp. 66–67
427:Old Romantics Tug at the Heart
406:The Metropolitan Museum of Art
297:'s collection under the title
278:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
116:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
110:, c. 1825–1830. 34.9 x 43.8 cm
104:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
22:Two Men Contemplating the Moon
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948:Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
908:Morning on the Riesengebirge
916:The Tombs of the Old Heroes
788:at the Alte Nationalgalerie
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154:Metropolitan Museum of Art
108:Metropolitan Museum of Art
1068:Ships in Harbour, Evening
850:
663:, Munich: Prestel, 1973,
621:, Cologne: DuMont, 2004,
330:The German art historian
26:
892:The Abbey in the Oakwood
617:, Exhibition catalogue,
576:. Bayard Press S.A. 1994
572:Sala, Charles. Terrail.
1151:Boy Sleeping on a Grave
780:at Galerie Neue Meister
745:The Burlington Magazine
1100:Neubrandenburg Burning
972:The Port of Greifswald
876:Cross in the Mountains
844:Caspar David Friedrich
489:Caspar David Friedrich
142:Caspar David Friedrich
129:
111:
96:
40:Caspar David Friedrich
1173:(1811/1819 paintings)
956:Chalk Cliffs on RĂĽgen
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95:, c. 1824. 34 x 44 cm
85:
964:Seaside by Moonlight
809:at Wikimedia Commons
654:Karl Wilhelm Jähnig
619:Berlin State Museums
536:Johan Christian Dahl
313:Gallery of Lucerne.
295:Johan Christian Dahl
273:Alte Nationalgalerie
262:Johan Christian Dahl
150:Alte Nationalgalerie
146:Galerie Neue Meister
93:Alte Nationalgalerie
74:Galerie Neue Meister
1084:The Great Enclosure
1012:Moonrise by the Sea
884:The Monk by the Sea
643:Helmut Börsch-Supan
444:on 10 December 2008
435:, 24 October 2004.
332:Helmut Börsch-Supan
164:landscape paintings
1116:The Stages of Life
932:Two Men by the Sea
353:altdeutsche Tracht
196:altdeutsche Tracht
174:, standing before
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97:
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1186:Zauber der Stille
1060:Cabin in the Snow
1028:Woman at a Window
1020:The Tree of Crows
996:River Bank in Fog
805:Media related to
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613:Birgit Verwiebe,
604:, pp. 23–29.
487:Willi Geismeier,
425:Leach, Cristin, "
227:Romantic painters
181:Waiting for Godot
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1189:(2023 biography)
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446:. Retrieved
442:the original
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411:21 September
409:. Retrieved
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362:Karl Förster
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311:Fritz Nathan
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1224:Moon in art
1181:(1986 film)
1111:(1830–1835)
1103:(1830–1835)
1095:(1830–1834)
1079:(1828–1830)
975:(1818–1820)
887:(1808–1810)
710:(in German)
673:(in German)
656:(Q94942978)
646: [
631:(in German)
561:(in German)
544:(in German)
500:(in German)
467:(in German)
335: [
170:Playwright
1203:Categories
940:The Gazebo
796:at The Met
448:2008-11-17
381:References
289:Provenance
212:earthshine
62:Dimensions
1154:(c. 1803)
1146:(c. 1803)
1055:(1824–25)
1047:(1823–24)
927:(c. 1816)
911:(1810–11)
903:(1809–10)
895:(1809–10)
860:Paintings
122:‹See Tfd›
76:, Dresden
49:1819–1820
698:Romantik
369:See also
346:Politics
326:Religion
256:Versions
70:Location
1162:Related
988:Evening
983:(1820s)
307:Lucerne
1138:(1803)
1127:Prints
1119:(1835)
1108:Sunset
1087:(1831)
1071:(1828)
1063:(1827)
1039:(1823)
1031:(1822)
1023:(1822)
1015:(1822)
1007:(1822)
999:(1821)
991:(1821)
967:(1818)
959:(1818)
951:(1818)
943:(1818)
935:(1817)
919:(1812)
879:(1808)
871:(1807)
704:
667:
625:
600:
495:
303:talers
159:These
134:) and
126:German
54:Medium
36:Artist
694:et al
650:]
339:]
283:X-ray
235:RĂĽgen
702:ISBN
665:ISBN
652:and
623:ISBN
598:ISBN
493:ISBN
413:2014
350:The
46:Year
696:.,
1205::
759:,
659:,
648:de
581:^
528:^
516:^
404:.
400:.
389:^
337:de
241:.
156:.
128::
106:,
91:,
836:e
829:t
822:v
712:.
633:.
563:.
546:.
502:.
469:.
451:.
415:.
119:(
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