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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: THE EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM IN ART - CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
5/5/2011 3:02:09 AM
Dear Roger and Cheryl,

Thank you for your new and interesting views around the diminished dimensions of people in The Chaseur in the Forest by Caspar David Friedrich. You both clearly have made your particular points, which to my surprise I myself shared as well though without previously being consciously aware of it.

In fact, Roger, only now have I realized the relevance of the angle from which the observer is viewing in the particular work that we are commenting on, actually an angle that other great painters, for example Jan Brueghel the Elder, had previously used in their works - yet with certain differences: for example, Brueghel's small characters are not looking away from the observer in his famous painting, Rest on the Flight to Egypt (see below) like the one in Friedrich's work is. Of course I had noticed but, again, I had not consciously realized its relevance; however, I, like you, remember climbing a tree as a boy to watch the people below unobserved - by the way, something girls will rarely ever have experienced.

And Cheryl, it is true that I, like you,
felt sort of claustrophobic at the massiveness of the trees, yet without formulating this fact in words to myself until you have mentioned it. It is curious how one can feel a certain amount of claustrophoby even in the middle of more serene surroundings, like those in the Brueghel's painting - though to a lesser extent. I guess the clue lies in the fact that Friedrich was the first to not only direct the viewer's gaze into the painting by overwhelmingly exaggerating the difference between the people size and that of the huge landscapes in his paintings but, more important, by making those undersized people turn their backs to the viewer and gaze into the scene themselves.



Jan Brueghel the Elder - Forest Landscape (Rest on the Flight to Egypt),
detail, 1607

Thanks again,

Miguel

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Roger Macdivitt .

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RE: THE EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM IN ART - CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
5/5/2011 7:59:55 AM

Off subject a little but relevant.

Lowry often used this angle because he could get such depth and detail.

I may do a forum on this very popular and often despised artist.

His stick men may be simple but his individual perspectives and messages can't be faulted.

A powerful angle that I might use. Roger

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RE: THE EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM IN ART - CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
5/5/2011 5:26:13 PM

Miguel, I have been looking at some of the latest you have posted here. This one I really like because of the center focus and the dismal setting.

All of his paintings are great and I am glad you have featured. Friedrich's art.

With love,

Sara

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: THE EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM IN ART - CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
5/7/2011 11:04:14 AM
Quote:

Off subject a little but relevant.

Lowry often used this angle because he could get such depth and detail.

I may do a forum on this very popular and often despised artist.

His stick men may be simple but his individual perspectives and messages can't be faulted.

A powerful angle that I might use. Roger


I am sorry Roger and Sara, I missed your posts in the previous page.

You are right Roger, and your view on Lowry's angle is relevant. More than that, his proposal is impecable in every sense, even his 'stick men' are. Among other things, his use of color is great; I just love it.

As to that particular painting by Friedrich, Sara,
The Abbey in the Oakwood, maybe I should not have posted it as part of a trio; it is as you say, it clearly deserved more than that and I should have presented it all by itself, maybe reserve it for a grand finale. Among other things, because it seems the proposal it represented was much appreciated by the time Friedrich's painting at last became known not only to the citics but also to the general public.

Thanks again to you both for your great feedback.

Miguel

Caspar David Friedrich - The Abbey in the Oakwood (oil on canvas, 1809 -10)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: THE EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM IN ART - CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
5/9/2011 6:26:41 PM
Dear Friends,

At the risk of diminishing their individual worth by posting them together, I would like to show three more masterworks more or less of the 'somber' sort by Caspar David Friedrich. Of the three, the first is virtually unknown; the second is pretty known - even famous - and the third is neither unknown nor too famous either (perhaps because it has always been in the possession of a private foundation). The first one, of a rare beauty, and painted in 1825, several years after the other two were, is more colorful and even joyful, which might be explained by the causes that have been previously expounded.


Caspar David Friedrich - Eldena Ruin (oil on canvas, 1825)

Caspar David Friedrich - Monastery Graveyard in the Snow (oil on canvas, 1817-19)

Caspar David Friedrich - City at Moonrise (oil on canvas, 1817)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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