Florian Illies on Caspar David Friedrich
Goethe simply couldn't do anything with him. Caspar David Friedrich's paintings were far too gloomy and melancholy for him, too "New German, religiously patriotic". The poet once even awarded the painter a prize of his own. But that was as far as it went. From then on, he rebuffed all of Friedrich's attempts to buy one of his paintings. In the end, Goethe was so annoyed by the painter's attempts at ingratiation that he could barely control his anger. It is said that he even smashed one of his paintings on the edge of a table.
Florian Illies describes this anecdote in his book "Magic of Silence", which provides a wonderful introduction to the Caspar David Friedrich Year 2024, in which the 250th birthday of the great nature painter will be celebrated with several exhibitions. The bestselling author and art expert has not written a straightforward chronological biography, but follows the mosaic principle already proven in his previous books. The troubled relationship between Goethe and Friedrich is thus sketchily taken up and illuminated at various points in the book.
Some of the pictures were gathering dust in old manor houses
Incidentally, Goethe was not alone in his dislike of the painter for a long time. In view of today's veneration of Caspar David Friedrich, it is hard to imagine that this classic of German Romanticism was once completely written off in the art world. In the second half of the 19th century, nobody knew what to make of his name. Friedrich's paintings, almost never signed, were sometimes attributed to other Romantics. They rotted and gathered dust in old manor houses or in enchanted ladies' mansions. The majority remained in the possession of an old Dresden friend who recognized Friedrich's uniqueness early on.
Illies tells vividly, very entertainingly and full of beautiful anecdotes about the aberrations, the disappearance and the miraculous rediscovery of today's icons of art history. One of the painter's most famous works, "The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog", was completely unknown for over a hundred years before it embarked on a nebulous journey through all kinds of private collections, completely underestimated. It was not until the 1970s that its unprecedented triumphal march began with its purchase by the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
Growing up under "chalk cliffs"
The story of the "Chalk Cliffs on Rügen" is even more curious. It was acquired in 1915 by the Jewish entrepreneur and collector Julius Freund as an alleged painting by Carl Blechen, a contemporary of Friedrich. Freund hung the picture in his daughter's room. When she later became famous as a photographer under the name Gisèle Freund, she remarked: "I grew up under the chalk cliffs of Rügen." But alongside these often miraculously preserved pictures, there are unfortunately also many destroyed works. Around half of Friedrich's paintings are considered irrevocably lost. A large number were burnt in various disasters.
Illies describes how Friedrich influenced very different artists, from whom one would not expect this at all. Walt Disney, for example, was so taken with his paintings that he had his famous Bambi hop through mystical mountain landscapes à la Caspar David Friedrich. And who knows that the play "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett was inspired by the painting "Two Men Contemplating the Moon"?
The elaborately researched but very light-footed book has many a surprise in store. For example, Caspar David Friedrich was apparently a miserable draughtsman. Illies believes that this is precisely why he mostly painted people from behind. In any case, this resulted in some of the most beautiful back portraits in art history.
After the release of Florian Illies' book "Magic of Silence," Caspar David Friedrich's works saw a resurgence in interest. Despite being shunned for years, new releases of his paintings began to garner positive reviews and critical acclaim.
During Caspar David Friedrich's life, his work was often overlooked and misunderstood. New German Romantics like Caspar David Friedrich often struggled to have their work recognized and appreciated in the art world, with their work sometimes being attributed to others or gathering dust in old manor houses.
Source: www.dpa.com
