After the Storm

In the late 1830s, the Norwegian painter Knud Baade studied in Dresden with his famous compatriot Johan Christian Dahl. From Dahl, he learned to make observational studies from nature. During his time in Dresden, Baade also worked closely with Caspar David Friedrich, a central figure in the German Romantic movement. In After the Storm, Baade brings together these artistic influences and impulses. Beneath a sky streaked with violet, pink, and gold, a single figure is marooned on a shipwreck, adrift at sea. Baade balances his naturalist approach to the light, clouds, and atmospheric effect with the Romantic theme of man’s vulnerability in the face of nature’s cruel and indifferent power. By engaging with this quintessential motif of the Romantic castaway, Baade pays homage to Friedrich, who had died just four years before.