John Coulthart on the influential German painter
Artist and designer John Coulthart has made some interesting observations on the work of German painter Caspar David Friedrich:
[...] Snow scenes tend to inspire picturesque cliché but in Friedrich’s paintings winter is merely another season in which to evoke his Christian mysticism through the depiction of landscape. The pagan dolmen above is an unusual subject, far more common are churchyard ruins and mountainside crosses although he was also happy enough painting luminous landscapes, especially of mountains and the sea. His treatment of natural light is quite extraordinary and his photo-realist style makes an interesting contrast with the similar effects captured by JMW Turner’s palette of blurs and smears. [Read Article]
