Art Insights — Drifting clouds by Caspar David Friedrich

Being a master of depicting landscapes and adding a deep meaning to his artworks, Caspar David Friedrich did travel a lot around Germany to find inspiration from its beautiful and diverse scenery. His paintings included a variety of locations, from his native Greifswald, located nearby the Baltic Sea to the mountainous areas depicting foggy peaks and long-forgotten ruins.

One of his favorite locations was the Giant Mountains, located in the modern-day territory of Poland and the Czech Republic. There, Friedrich drew inspiration for many of his paintings. The Giant Mountains is a place where the river of Elbe takes its start on its long way to the Baltic Sea. The area where the source of Elbe takes place is very picturesque, presenting high cliffs and waterfalls to the hikers.

Drifting Clouds (1820) by Caspar David Friedrich. Oil on canvas, 18.3 cm x 24.5 cm. Source: Wikipedia Commons.

At the first sight, this painting looks like it was done with slightly loose brush strokes. However, it’s more of an illusion because the first impression of Drifting Clouds makes you think this artwork lacks detail. When you start to look closer at it, the initial impression should eventually change.

While the heavy gust of clouds covers most of the peaks, there is still a gap between them, and you can see the plains warmed by rays of the sun. It is not a completely sunny day, but the sunlight still breaks through the clouds. Friedrich depicted part of the clouds more brightly, creating a feeling that the sun is somewhere around. The painter does not give much detail about the scenery on the plains, but some of those tiny points could be rural houses.

“I must stay alone and know that I am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full“ — Caspar David Friedrich.

Friedrich definitely spent some extra time working on the depiction of clouds. Every layer of clouds is well-detailed and well-placed. The light and shadows around the clouds were added properly, and Friedrich’s brushwork makes the painting look larger than it actually is.

Drifting Clouds is one of those works that feature no human figures observing the scenery. Friedrich also did not seem to try to add any symbolism or mysticism to this landscape as he loved to do in most of his artworks. Drifting Clouds looks like a pure Romanticism period painting, displaying just a pure admiration towards nature and all its beautiful features — mountains, valleys, clouds, and sun. In a way, it is a very minimalistic depiction of the Giant Mountains. It is beautiful, but there is nothing extra added to increase the aesthetics.

By the beginning of the 1820s, Friedrich had already created his most iconic and most recognizable painting — The Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog. During that period, he settled in his house nearby Elbe river and created a series of similar paintings depicting mountainous scenes covered by fog and clouds.

Unfortunately, the following decades of Friedrich’s life were overshadowed by his struggles with health. He continued to gain recognition and create art, but it brought more challenges daily. In the 1830s, the father of Romanticism painting suffered two strokes. The first one paralyzed his hand, while the second stroke left him completely powerless and unable to live a regular life. He spent his last years in bed, and death was slowly finding its path to victory over life.

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