Caspar David Friedrich: Where it all started

It was in Dresden that Caspar David Friedrich produced many of his most remarkable works, including striking landscapes such as The Great Enclosure (1832) and The Abbey in the Oak Wood (c. 1809–10). The four decades Friedrich spent in the city are the focus of this exhibition at the Albertinum and the Kupferstich-Kabinett, which are jointly hosting one of three major shows in Germany this year to mark the 250th anniversary of the artist’s birth (24 August–5 January 2025). Alongside works by Friedrich at the Albertinum are paintings by masters who inspired Friedrich, including Claude Lorrain, Salvator Rosa and Jacob van Ruisdael, as well as a selection of works by his contemporaries. The exhibition at the Kupferstich-Kabinett sheds light on Friedrich’s gift for drawing – his sketches combined passion with precision in a very distinctive manner – and presents one of the artist’s manuscripts, which contains his thoughts on art theory and the work of his contemporaries.

Find out more from the State Museums of Dresden’s website.

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Rocks on a Forest Path (With a View of a Gorge) (1810), Caspar David Friedrich. Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden. Photo: Herbert Boswank; © Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Two Men Contemplating the Moon (1819/20), Caspar David Friedrich. Albertinum, Dresden. Photo: Elke Estel; © Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

View from the Chapter House of the Holy Cross Monastery Ruins near Meissen (1824), Caspar David Friedrich. Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden. Photo: Herbert Boswank; © Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden